Australian Lab Grown Diamond Brand Expands to Six Cities, Eight Markets

Melbourne shoppers walking into a Collins Street jewellery appointment today face a choice that barely existed a decade ago. Lab grown stones now sit alongside mined ones in most engagement ring showrooms, and one Australian company has built its entire business on that shift.

Novita Diamonds, which sells lab grown diamonds, was founded in Australia by Iris Arnold, who had followed the development of lab grown stones for years before deciding the technology was commercially ready. The company name is taken from the Latin for new.

An online-first model

Rather than open on expensive retail strips, the company runs an appointment-based showroom model with an online storefront behind it. Its own materials attribute its pricing to lower overheads passed through to customers. The Melbourne showroom operates from Collins Street on that basis, alongside locations in Sydney, Parramatta, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

A women-led business

The company states that 80 per cent of its workforce and all senior management positions are held by women. Arnold has described that structure as deliberate rather than incidental. Its design and gemmology team, which it calls the A-Team, is described as holding more than 40 years of combined industry experience.

Scale and scrutiny

The company reports more than 10,500 five-star reviews across its markets, which now include Singapore, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Malaysia and Hong Kong. That expansion has come as lab grown stones moved from novelty to mainstream, a transition driven largely by buyers under 35. lab grown diamonds are rewriting the luxury rules for British buyers.

The category is not without its critics. Mined-diamond trade bodies argue that lab grown stones lack resale value, and pricing has fallen steeply as production capacity has grown. What is no longer in dispute is that the stones are chemically and optically identical to mined diamonds, a point independent laboratories including GIA now certify directly.

For Melbourne buyers, the practical effect is a wider set of options at a given budget, and a jewellery industry that has had to explain its pricing more clearly than it once did.

Sources: The Korea Times, Novita Diamonds CEO Iris Arnold shares insights into the future of lab grown gems.