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RJC Introduces New Laboratory Grown Materials Standard

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The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has unveiled its new Laboratory Grown Materials Standard (LGMS), marking a significant step towards ethical and sustainable practices in the growing sector of laboratory-grown diamonds and coloured gemstones. As the jewellery and watch industry evolves, this new standard sets a clear benchmark for responsible sourcing and production in these emerging markets.

With consumers becoming increasingly conscientious, laboratory-grown diamonds and gemstones are gaining popularity, offering a more ethical and sustainable alternative to mined stones. The LGMS establishes comprehensive guidelines for RJC members working with these materials, ensuring that every product is crafted with care for both people and the planet.

Dave Meleski, Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council, stated,
“Our mission at RJC is to promote responsible business practices across the jewellery sector—from the mine or laboratory to the retail space. With the LGMS, we’re not just establishing a standard, we’re creating a vision for a future where elegance and ethics coexist. We believe that whether a diamond is mined or lab-grown, it can be celebrated without compromising our core values.”

The LGMS covers all facets of responsible business conduct, including legal compliance, management systems, due diligence, human rights, labour rights, health and safety, environmental management, appraisal and grading, and disclosure.

John Hall, interim Executive Director of the RJC, added,
“Our goal is to create an environment of trust where both buyers and sellers can engage with confidence. By implementing the LGMS, we ensure that best practices are upheld from the laboratory to the consumer.”

To support this mission, the LGMS places a strong emphasis on robust company management systems to guarantee responsible and transparent supply chains. Each RJC member must document and implement technical requirements that impact all stages of the process. This helps to mitigate risks, improve working conditions, benefit local communities, and maintain the integrity of every lab-grown gemstone. Transparency throughout the supply chain is key to fostering trust, ensuring that consumers can make well-informed purchasing decisions.

For the first year following its launch, the LGMS will be voluntary for existing RJC members. After this initial phase, it will become mandatory for all members working with laboratory-grown materials. This gradual transition will give members the time and resources they need to meet these essential standards.

In addition, the RJC will offer optional training, educational modules, and simplified auditing processes, making it easier for members to comply with both the LGMS and the existing Code of Practices (COP).

With the introduction of the LGMS, the RJC is making responsible luxury the standard, not the exception, in the watch and jewellery industry. Through its LGMS, COP, and COC, the RJC reaffirms its role as the leading authority in setting industry standards.

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DiamondBuzz

De Beers Group Sets Out Portfolio and Organisational Actions to Support Long-Term Value Creation

Company outlines strategic cost optimisation, portfolio streamlining and operational changes to strengthen resilience while positioning for long-term growth in the natural diamond industry.

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De Beers Group is advancing delivery of its business streamlining by setting out a number of planned portfolio and organisational changes to ensure an efficient cost base that strengthens resilience in the near-term while enhancing future competitiveness and retaining optionality as industry conditions improve.

Since 2024, De Beers has been streamlining its business in line with its Origins strategy to reduce costs, divest non-core assets and prioritise investment in activities that create the most value. Significant progress has been made, with more than $100 million of annual overhead costs removed from the business, the sale or closure of a number of non-core assets and significant capital and cost reconfigurations to asset expansion projects.

Simultaneously, De Beers has reinvested in natural diamond category marketing to support the industry’s efforts to grow natural diamond demand, launching new large-scale campaigns and collaborating with key stakeholders across the value chain to foster industry-wide investment. Global consumer demand for natural diamond jewellery returned to growth in 2025, while natural diamond sales increased across US independent jewellers in 2025 and into Q1 2026, led by higher value diamonds and those promoted by De Beers’ Desert Diamonds marketing campaign.

On the supply side, global rough diamond production is now decreasing, with several producers closing mines during 2026. Whilst the increasing rarity of diamonds and the emerging signs of improvement in consumer demand are likely to support longer-term value creation, rough diamond trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in the near-term due to cyclical and industry-specific factors.

Consistent with recent actions to improve business resilience, De Beers intends to pause production at the Venetia mine in South Africa for two years to reduce costs while also rephasing capital expenditure on its underground project. This will involve critical infrastructure investment to enhance the capacity and efficiency of the mine, with the intention to support future production growth as business and industry conditions improve.

De Beers is engaging with stakeholders in accordance with relevant requirements and the company’s values as it moves through this process, and will both support impacted employees and continue to invest in its community and Social and Labour Plan commitments.

This proposed action at Venetia Mine follows the decision earlier this year to pause the Tuzo Phase 3 expansion project at the Gahcho Kué Mine in Canada.

In parallel, De Beers plans to reconfigure its global operating model to refocus and prioritise resources on the core operational businesses and reduce its central corporate cost base.

Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, said:

“In line with our commitment to focus and streamline our business, we are making a number of changes to De Beers to ensure greater business resilience in the near-term, while supporting long-term value creation. We recognise the protracted challenging conditions as the diamond industry evolves, though we are encouraged by signs of consumer demand growth in the US and beyond, particularly in higher quality diamonds.

Global rough diamond supply is falling, bringing more support to the market. The changes we are making to our business are focused on underpinning our efficiency now and into the future, favourably positioning De Beers in its leadership role.”

De Beers Group will maintain current production levels through its other operations, and previous production guidance remains unchanged.

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JewelBuzz is Asia’s First Digital Jewellery Media & India’s No.1 B2B Jewellery Magazine, published by AM Media House. Since 2016, we’ve been the trusted source for jewellery news, market trends, trade insights, exhibitions, podcasts, and brand stories, connecting jewellers, retailers, and industry professionals worldwide.

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