PERSPECTIVE 44 | JNA July/August 2023 IGDA: Like many lab-grown diamond (LGD) players, Joanna Park-Tonks, president of the International Grown Diamond Association (IGDA), came to the LGD scene from a natural diamond background. She held senior positions at De Beers Group and market consultancy firm Accenture before founding lab-grown diamond jewellery brand Chelsea Rocks in 2018. In the beginning of 2023, she became president of IGDA where she focuses on the three R’s: Relationships, research and representation. In a frank discussion with JNA, she shares her insights on key issues impacting the lab-grown diamond trade. JNA: What is driving demand for lab-grown diamonds? Joanna Park-Tonks: Consumers are really taking the lead. Lab-grown diamonds are very appealing to younger people – the millennials and the Gen Zs – who are generally known for their intense online research. Consumers are often better educated and better informed than retailers on the subject. This groundswell of market acceptance will definitely continue. As long as our industry gives the consumers honest, fair and transparent information and provide full disclosure, we are on the right side of the law. JNA: How should lab-grown diamonds be positioned and promoted in the market? Park-Tonks: We need to sharpen our abilities and be creative in our storytelling. Our category has a fascinating story but there may have been too much focus on the technology and how they are produced. While that is important, let us not forget why people buy natural or lab-grown diamonds. These are the ultimate expression of love. As a category, we need to flow that creativity, love and passion into new designs. The slightly lower price points of lab-grown diamonds allow us to be more playful and experimental in design. Lab-grown diamonds should not be marketed as a commodity but as a special purchase linked to design, romance and artistry. JNA: What aspects of the LGD trade need to be enhanced? Park-Tonks: There is definitely room for improvement in our product and marketing. To me, cut is perhaps the most important of the 4Cs and is, from a technical perspective, an area we can enhance. We should also not forget the more poetic and artistic facets of lab-grown diamonds and promote this creation of manmade brilliance and ingenuity for the wonder that it is. | Olivia Quiniquini 程爱莉 | Joanna Park-Tonks, president of the International Grown Diamond Association (IGDA), is pursuing an agenda of dialogue, transparency and creativity as she steers the category towards greater stability and growth. 国际培育钻石协会(IGDA)主席Joanna ParkTonks锐意通过推动业界的对话、透明度和创 造力，提高培育钻石行业的稳定性和发展。 拓展实验室 培育钻石市场 Growing the market for LGDs
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