By Philip Chen, co-founder of Fashion China Agency — In 2022, synthetic diamonds were a newcomer challenging natural diamonds. By 2024, China has become the world’s largest producer of lab-grown diamonds and the category has established itself permanently in the jewelry market. The question has shifted: it is no longer whether synthetic diamond brands can survive in China. It is how they can differentiate in a market that is rapidly commoditizing.
Synthetic Diamond in China: From Challenger to Commodity — and What Brands Must Do Next
Synthetic diamonds are lab-grown diamonds with the same chemical composition and physical properties as natural diamonds. Grown under controlled conditions using CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) or HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) methods, synthetic diamonds are chemically and physically indistinguishable from natural diamonds without specialist laboratory testing. Their primary market advantage has been price: in 2022, synthetic diamonds were roughly one-sixth the price of comparable natural diamonds. By 2024, the price gap has widened to 80–90% discount for comparable lab-grown stones.
The history of synthetic diamonds traces to the 1950s, when Union Carbide produced the first CVD diamonds in 1952. The HPHT method followed, but production was primarily for industrial use. Only in the past decade did gem-quality lab-grown diamonds reach the jewelry market in significant volumes — and only in the past three years has China become not just a consumer market but the dominant global producer.
China Becomes the World’s Largest Lab-Grown Diamond Producer
China’s Henan province is now the center of the global lab-grown diamond supply chain. Companies including Henan Yellow River Whirlwind (黄河旋风), Sino-Crystal Diamond (中南钻石), and dozens of smaller manufacturers produce lab-grown diamonds at scale and at cost structures that have driven global prices down dramatically. The Chinese government has classified lab-grown diamond production as a strategic manufacturing sector, providing industrial policy support that accelerates capacity expansion.
This manufacturing dominance gives Chinese lab-grown diamond jewelry brands a structural cost advantage over Western competitors importing lab-grown stones. It also creates extreme price competition: when upstream supply is domestically abundant and cheap, downstream jewelry margins compress rapidly unless brands invest in differentiation assets that go beyond stone price.
The result in 2024: China’s lab-grown diamond jewelry market is crowded, competitively priced, and rapidly distinguishing between brands that built genuine brand equity and brands that competed on price alone. The price-only players are losing ground. The brand-equity builders are growing.
Why Synthetic Diamonds Faced Backlash in China — and How the Market Has Changed
The original article was written when synthetic diamond brands faced significant consumer skepticism in China. The “backlash” came from two sources: natural diamond brands (particularly De Beers and its Forevermark operation in China) actively marketing the irreplaceability of natural diamonds, and consumer uncertainty about whether lab-grown diamonds would hold any resale value.
By 2024, the market has bifurcated more clearly, and the backlash narrative has evolved:
Natural diamond brands have won the investment narrative. Chinese consumers who approach diamond jewelry as a store of value or investment asset — a significant segment, particularly for engagement rings — have largely concluded that natural diamonds retain resale value while lab-grown diamonds do not. This is factually accurate: the secondary market price for lab-grown diamonds has collapsed alongside primary market prices, while natural diamond prices have held or recovered. For consumers who see jewelry as investment, natural diamonds win clearly.
Lab-grown brands have won the fashion and accessibility narrative. For Chinese consumers who want diamond aesthetics for fashion, self-expression, or everyday wear without investment-grade price commitment, lab-grown diamonds have become fully accepted. The question “is it real?” has been answered satisfactorily: chemically yes, socially it depends on context and who is asking. Among younger urban consumers (18–32), lab-grown diamonds for fashion jewelry are entirely normalized.
The Commoditization Challenge: How Synthetic Diamond Brands Survive
The core challenge for lab-grown diamond jewelry brands in China in 2024 is commoditization. When upstream diamonds are cheap and abundant, and when many brands sell similar designs at similar price points, consumer decision is made primarily on price. Competing on price is a race to zero margin. The brands surviving and growing have moved beyond price competition into genuine brand equity strategies:
Design as primary differentiator. Lab-grown diamond brands that invest in original jewelry design — not just standard solitaire and halo settings — create products that consumers choose for aesthetic reasons rather than price comparison. Brands with distinctive design language, seasonal collections, and limited-edition pieces are building consumer loyalty that commodity competitors cannot access.
Brand identity and community. The most successful Chinese lab-grown diamond brands have built genuine consumer communities around identity, not just product. Young female consumers who identify with a brand’s aesthetic values, sustainability narrative, or lifestyle positioning become advocates who generate organic content rather than just price-comparing buyers.
Quality certification beyond the stone. Competing lab-grown brands can source identical diamonds. What differentiates finished jewelry is metal quality (18K gold craftsmanship vs lower alloy content), setting precision, after-sales service, and certification documentation. Brands that compete on total product quality rather than stone price alone justify premium positioning.
Case Study: Caraxy (卡蕾希) — China’s Lab-Grown Diamond Brand Leader
Caraxy (卡蕾希) is the most recognized Chinese lab-grown diamond jewelry brand, founded in 2021 and achieving rapid scale through a deliberate brand-building strategy that avoided competing primarily on price. Caraxy’s positioning centers on the concept of “conscious luxury” — lab-grown diamonds as a choice that reflects environmental awareness and modern values rather than a compromise that costs less than natural diamonds.
Caraxy built its brand primarily through Xiaohongshu, where its positioning resonated with young Chinese women who wanted diamond jewelry for self-expression rather than as a relationship gift or investment. The brand’s Xiaohongshu content strategy focused on lifestyle aspiration — women wearing Caraxy pieces in career, travel, and social contexts — rather than product comparison or price communication. This approach built brand desire independent of the lab-grown vs. natural diamond question.
Caraxy also invested in 18K gold settings, in-house design, and a customer service model that competed with natural diamond brands rather than positioning itself as a budget alternative. Their engagement ring collections, priced at RMB 3,000–8,000 for comparable natural diamond equivalents costing RMB 20,000–50,000, generate genuine aspiration rather than compromise positioning. By 2024, Caraxy has built a Tmall flagship store revenue and community following that demonstrates the lab-grown brand model can generate genuine brand equity in China.
2026 Trends: Synthetic Diamonds in China
Lab-grown diamond brand consolidation will continue. The hundreds of small lab-grown diamond jewelry brands that entered the Chinese market from 2021–2023 will consolidate through 2025–2026. Brands without genuine design identity, marketing infrastructure, and consumer community will not survive at declining price points. A smaller number of established lab-grown brands with real consumer recognition will capture the majority of the category.
Lab-grown diamonds will become standard for fashion jewelry categories. For earrings, bracelets, and fashion rings where the emotional weight of the “natural vs. lab-grown” question is lower than engagement rings, lab-grown diamonds will become the default material choice for brands in the RMB 500–5,000 range. Brands that position clearly for fashion jewelry use cases rather than competing in the engagement ring category will face less of the natural diamond comparison pressure.
Resale value will become the key battleground for consumer education. The most significant long-term challenge for lab-grown diamond brands in China is consumer education around resale value. Lab-grown diamond jewelry has near-zero secondary market value as primary prices continue to fall. Brands must either develop a narrative that makes resale irrelevant (fashion jewelry is not expected to hold value) or find a way to create genuine scarcity that supports secondary market price — through limited production, certified vintage positioning, or design collectibility.
Chinese lab-grown diamond producers will pursue international brand building. Having established manufacturing dominance, major Chinese lab-grown diamond producers will invest in their own international jewelry brands rather than just supplying stones to Western brands. This shifts Chinese companies from commodity suppliers to brand competitors in global jewelry markets — a transition with significant implications for international lab-grown jewelry brands that currently source from Chinese manufacturers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a synthetic or lab-grown diamond?
A synthetic or lab-grown diamond has the same chemical composition (pure carbon in crystalline form) and physical properties as a natural diamond. It is produced in a controlled laboratory environment using either HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) or CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) methods that replicate the geological conditions under which natural diamonds form. Lab-grown diamonds are chemically indistinguishable from natural diamonds without specialist spectroscopic testing. The primary difference is origin: lab-grown diamonds are manufactured, natural diamonds are billions of years old and mined from the earth.
Why are lab-grown diamonds so much cheaper than natural diamonds in 2024?
Lab-grown diamond prices have fallen dramatically since 2020, driven by massive production capacity expansion — particularly from Chinese manufacturers in Henan province. In 2022, lab-grown diamonds were approximately one-sixth the price of comparable natural diamonds. By 2024, the discount has widened to 80–90% for comparable stone grades. This price collapse reflects the economics of manufactured goods: as production scales, costs fall and prices follow. Natural diamonds are genuinely rare and require mining; lab-grown diamonds can be produced in unlimited quantities given sufficient manufacturing capacity.
Do Chinese consumers accept lab-grown diamond jewelry?
Yes, with context-dependent nuance. Chinese consumers have split into two clear segments: those who prioritize diamond aesthetics and fashion value (who are comfortable with lab-grown at significantly lower prices), and those who prioritize investment value and resale potential (who prefer certified natural diamonds). Young urban consumers aged 18–32 buying for fashion or self-expression are the most accepting of lab-grown. Consumers buying engagement rings with family gifting context or investment intent are more likely to prefer natural diamonds. Both segments are real and substantial in China’s jewelry market.
How is China involved in lab-grown diamond production?
China has become the world’s dominant lab-grown diamond producer, with the majority of global lab-grown diamond supply now originating from manufacturers in Henan province. Chinese companies including Henan Yellow River Whirlwind and Sino-Crystal Diamond operate at scales that have fundamentally changed global lab-grown diamond economics. The Chinese government supports lab-grown diamond manufacturing as a strategic industrial sector, and Chinese lab-grown production costs are significantly lower than comparable Western or Indian manufacturers. This means Chinese lab-grown diamond jewelry brands have structural cost advantages that international competitors cannot easily replicate.
What is the resale value of lab-grown diamond jewelry in China?
Lab-grown diamond jewelry currently has very low resale value in China. As primary market prices for lab-grown diamonds continue to fall, secondary market prices follow. A lab-grown diamond purchased for RMB 5,000 in 2022 may trade on Xianyu for RMB 500–1,000 in 2024 as equivalent new pieces cost less than the original purchase price. This contrasts with natural diamonds, which have maintained more stable secondary market values — particularly for certified stones from prestige brands. Consumers who approach jewelry as investment should understand this fundamental difference before choosing lab-grown for significant purchases like engagement rings.
About Fashion China Agency
Fashion China Agency is a Shanghai-based digital marketing agency specialising in fashion, luxury, and lifestyle brand entry into the Chinese market. We help international brands build awareness, drive e-commerce revenue, and build communities on Xiaohongshu, Douyin, WeChat, and Tmall. Founded by Philip Chen and Olivier Verot, with offices in Shanghai and Paris.
Philip Chen is co-founder of GMA (Gentlemen Marketing Agency) and Fashion China Agency. Chinese-born, Shanghai-based, 12 years working with European and American fashion and luxury brands on China market entry. Connect on LinkedIn.