Being Sustainable

“Swarovski Created Diamonds” has made its appearance in the world of gems and jewellery. The company is looking at creating new market without disrupting the existing ones, says Daniel Cohen, Swarovski Executive Board Member while in conversation with Kavita Parab.

Q) From creating stimulants to venturing into fine jewellery with lab created diamonds with DIAMA, how did Swarovski foray into the lab-grown diamonds category?
Daniel Cohen: Swarovski has a long, rich tradition on a number of different fronts. We are more than 120 years old and have 50 years’ experience selling genuine gemstones and created stones. One of the ways we try to grow is by looking for new materials. Swarovski’s continued exploration of innovative materials is a natural evolution in science. Swarovski Created Diamonds share the philosophy of Daniel Swarovski, founder of the company, a visionary, scientist and inventor, with an eye for beauty and a deep respect for nature. His ultimate vision was to make dream-filled jewels accessible to all women, of all ages, around the world, to inject glamour into women’s lives – to democratize luxury.

My cousins and I are the fifth generation to run the business. One of the things that we aspire to do as the fifth generation is to find growth paths going forward and to figure out where our competencies as a business lie. So we have to explore opportunities that are ripe. This is one of a number of initiatives that we are pursuing in trying to grow Swarovski.

Q) What are the hurdles you faced / might face in this segment?
Daniel Cohen: Consumer acceptance is one of the major challenges that we face and will face in the future. Through our market research activities we learned that the education at the point of sales is crucial. This means that a solid training program along the entire value chain will be the key to the success of Created Diamonds and to DIAMA. Changing mindset is also another hurdle for this segment. The perception between naturally mined and lab-grown diamonds is something that we will only achieve through confidence building and education. Our aim is to position Created Diamonds as a new and unique material category, as we have done for over 50 years with other materials in our Gemstone Business.

Q) What is your strategy to penetrate into the markets with these new products?
Daniel Cohen: We see significant strategic growth potential in the jewellery market at large. We see a trend in material convergence across fashion, bridge and fine jewellery, driven by consumer desire over the past decade. This is especially true for the fashion conscious self-purchasing woman.

We have a number of initiatives to explore growth opportunities, DIAMA is one. With DIAMA, we are testing both these opportunities, both on the supply and on the demand sides, for synthetic diamonds. This is in line with the material diversification strategy in our gemstone business.

Q) Who is your target consumer? Is there any particular region/country, age group that you are targeting?
Daniel Cohen: Style conscious, self-purchasers who love and want a unique experience of contemporary fine jewellery and who are not afraid to be daring and try something new. Originally one specific target group that we explored in the U.S. concentrated on those whom live a LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health & Sustainability) lifestyle. We wanted to underline and target people for whom a lifestyle of health and sustainability is important.

Q) Are you manufacturing the labcreated diamonds or they are being sourced from a third party? Would you like to disclose the name of your source partner?
Daniel Cohen: We don’t disclose who our suppliers are, but we have a multi-supplier approach. Every supplier has to fulfill our strict CSR guidelines. It provides assurance to our stakeholders that responsible business practices are being followed in all sections of our operations.

Our aim is to position Created Diamonds as a new and unique material category, as we have for over 50 years with other materials in our Gemstone Business. Mined diamonds will always play a major role in the market, especially for all occasions with high emotional impact. We are looking to create new markets, not disrupt existing ones.

Q) What opportunities do you see for your lab-created diamonds in the coming future? Daniel Cohen: Our goal is to understand how people perceive the material and where it falls in the spectrum of stones in general. From crystal going through cubic zirconia, there is a whole continuum of sparkly clear materials, and we want to try to understand how the material fits in that context. We are keeping an open mind. The consumer will tell us what they think, very directly.

Q) What are your future plans for DIAMA?
Daniel Cohen: Swarovski wants to explore the potential of created diamonds and a proper way how to position it in the market in order to fulfill customer’s expectations. If created diamonds are successful in the market, then a step-bystep roll-out is planned, first of all in the U.S. DIAMA represents a test for Swarovski. We are trying to figure out the formula DIAMA and the model that works.