In a black velvet booth at the Ritz in Paris, Swarovski unveiled a fun and colorful collection of lab-grown diamonds, each with a fashionable name related to its hue. These included Gothic Cognac (deep orange), Cubist Sky (sky blue), Androgyny Flamingo (bright pink) and Heavy Metal Cherry (deep red).
The 125-year-old Austria-based company, which is famous for cutting fine crystals, entered the lab-grown diamond business in 2018 with a limited line of white diamonds. The process of creating colored diamonds is far more complex because additional heating, pressure and electro-radiation treatments are required in varying degrees for each color.
“We love to cut. We believe we’re real master cutters, so this category always intrigued us,” executive board member Markus Langes-Swarovski told WWD.
The new project highlights human innovation by re-creating the rarest diamond hues.
The 16 colors will be divided into four pillars, each representing a different creative medium: fashion, art, music and architecture. Each pillar is led by an intense hero color (available as large as 2.5-carats), with the less vivid shades offered in the 0.25-to-1.5-carat range.
The colored diamonds will be presented in six classic cuts: Round brilliant, square princess, cushion, pear, oval and radiant.
Swarovski Created Diamonds have the same optical, chemical and physical attributes as mined diamonds. Both are 100% carbon and have the same hardness, brilliance and fire as natural mined diamonds.
All Swarovski Created Diamonds are certified by the International Gemological Institute (IGI). Since lab-created diamonds can only be distinguished from mined diamonds with sophisticated lab equipment, gems 0.10 carats and larger will be laser engraved to clearly identify them as man-made.
Swarovski has been working on creating an ambitious array of colors, and Langes-Swarovski is optimistic about the possibilities.
“Imagine being able to order a lab-grown diamond to match your fiancée’s eyes,” he told The Telegraph. “By the end of the year, we could have 120 colors. We have the possibilities to create alien colors, colors that have never even been seen before or imagined on this planet. Our vision is to create millions of colors!”
Credits: Images courtesy of Swarovski.