De Beers: Titan’s lab-grown push won’t dull real diamonds
Titan recently launched a lab-grown diamond brand beYon while other lab-grown diamond jewellery retailers continue to raise funding. De Beers says India’s appetite for natural diamonds remains intact.
Mumbai: Even as lab-grown diamonds gain traction in India and the country’s largest jewellery retailer Titan enters the segment, legacy brand De Beers remains confident about the growth of natural diamonds in the country, a top executive said.
“India grew last year very strongly…That really cements India’s position as the second-most important market for diamonds on earth, after the US," De Beers CEO Al Cook told Mint in an interview.
Natural diamond sales in India grew 11% year on year in 2025 in value, Cook claimed. "We see that growth continuing. It has been four years of double-digit growth in natural diamond demand here."
The confidence comes even as India’s lab-grown diamond industry expands rapidly, emerging as a potential challenge to natural diamond business. Lab-grown diamonds, which are chemically similar to mined stones but cost less, have moved into the mainstream, with large jewellers that had earlier stayed away now entering the category.
In October 2024, Tata Group launched lab-grown diamonds under a sub-brand Pome within Westside, its department store chain. Last month, sister concern Titan that owns Tanishq, also launched a lab-grown diamond store in Mumbai named beYon.
Malabar Gold and Diamonds said last year that it was evaluating the lab-grown segment, signalling wider industry interest.
Industry estimates peg India’s lab-grown diamond market at about $300–400 million, growing at roughly 15% annually.
Cook told Mint in May last year that India’s domestic diamond jewellery market, estimated at about $10 billion then, would double by 2030. He said the projection remains on track.
Much of the growth will beg driven by a shift in how Indians buy and wear diamonds—from occasional purchases to more frequent, everyday jewellery.
De Beers is seeing a rise in self-purchase and demand for everyday wear, said Shweta Harit, global senior vice- president at the group. Search trends such as “get ready with me" (GRWM), suggest consumers increasingly want to style diamonds rather than store them away, she said.
"We also find a shift to Caratlane, Mia by Tanishq, this kind of everyday jewellery rather than bigger pieces."
In general, consumers have shifted towards buying more studded jewellery, Harit added, made with natural diamonds and other coloured stones. Lab-grown diamonds, too, are appealing to this exact customer cohort.
“I think Titan is doing it in a very responsible way," Cook said. These moves will reduce the cost of lab-grown diamonds across India and reinforce the distinction between natural and lab-grown diamonds, he said.
"They won’t offer exchange, which is such an important part of natural diamond jewellery retail. The stores will look very different and I don’t think we will see a lab-grown diamond anywhere near a Tanishq store ever."
Push to separate
As mainstream jewellers begin retailing lab-grown diamonds, they are increasingly competing for the Indian customer’s attention, at a fraction of the cost of a natural diamond.
Last week, the Bureau of Indian Standards introduced mandatory clear labels for lab-grown diamonds, reducing the risk of confusion.
“We will see growth in lab-grown diamonds, and also in natural diamonds, but I don’t think we will see any confusion between the two," he said.
In a survey of 600 people, consulting firm Deloitte found that a third of consumers look to buy lighter jewellery but will not opt for a less pure form of precious metal, despite the massive rise in gold prices, the firm said in a report published this month.
“Switching to lower karat options, such as 18K or 14K, is chosen by 17%. In contrast, alternatives, such as diamond-heavy designs, platinum or lab-grown diamonds, remain minimal (5% or less)," the report said.
Ironically, Indian customers are more likely to buy lab-grown diamonds to gift to someone, Deloitte found, with 44% of the survey’s respondents picking it as their first choice. “This indicates that while lab-grown options are emerging, consumer trust and aspiration remain stronger for natural stones," the report said.
While domestic demand for diamonds remains strong, India’s export of diamonds has suffered under US sanctions. Per data from the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, India’s exports of cut and polished diamonds fell over 36% year on year in FY26 (as of November 2025) to ₹71,332 crore.
“I am confident that there will be a deal," Cook said. “The good news is that the US has already stated that once a deal is announced, diamonds will have a zero tariff from India to the US. So we will be back to where we were."
topics
