Sarah Jessica Parkers Talks Lab Grown Gems

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

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Bloomberg (0:07)

So we talk about diamonds a lot here at Bloomberg. I talk about diamonds a lot.

Nathalie Morrison (0:10)

I love a good diamond.

Bloomberg (0:11)

In the household, I remind my husband, no. We talk about luxury, we talk about estate jewelry, we talk about watches, but on diamonds, one of the things that we pointed out a lot is how the market has drastically changed. Yes, a diamond may still be forever, but that diamond may increasingly be grown in the lab. And this market just continues to grow. So we are delighted to have back with us Nathalie Morrison. She's the founder of Astrea London, and great too that she brought along a key member of her team. We're delighted to have with her in studio as well. The company's global creative director, she's Sarah Jessica Parker. Very well known to the Bloomberg audience.

Welcome, welcome. Nice to have you here.

Sarah Jessica Parker (0:47)

Thanks for having us.

Bloomberg (0:48)

Yes, and we want to talk about the stuff that you guys are doing together, but I'm curious how you guys came together. Because I'm sure you get pitched a lot of things. I'm sure you get pitched a lot of things. How is it that this kind of made sense?

Sarah Jessica Parker (1:01)

We don't have time to tell each of our own version, but I'm fairly sure they'd be aligned anyway.

Just be curious where they said that. I got a call from my agent saying that this young woman had reached out and had started this business, although it was not a brand new newborn, and that she wanted to have a conversation about it, and it was specific around Lab Grown Diamonds and what she'd hoped to do with the company and how she wanted to grow it, and a partnership that we might, we may or may not be able to sort out. And I was really intrigued and discovered how little I really knew about Lab Grown Diamonds. And most of what I knew was generally what's happening here in this country and the price point that it had found its success. And that was kind of how limited I was. And then I met the person who runs the master class.

Nathalie Morrison (1:54)

She is pretty amazing.

Bloomberg (1:56)

Well, talk to us about how the acceptance of Lab Grown Diamonds, because I remember doing stories a few years ago, and there were either limitations, there were costs involved in terms of the creation, and I know there is to some extent too, but how it has evolved. And because when I talk to most people who get engaged today, it's a Lab Grown Diamond.

Nathalie Morrison (2:12)

Well, actually, it's 61% of the engagement around in the US on Lab Grown Diamond last year. The reality is I always speak about numbers because that's my background. It's okay.

We love numbers. $100 billion market a year, the diamond industry. Lab Grown Diamond was 1% of the market in 2015, 5% in 2021, almost 30% last year, although we don't know the exact number.

I don't know if you heard, but the DMCC in the UAE say it's going to be 100% by 2030 Goodness.

Sarah Jessica Parker (2:43)

But Nathalie always moves those predictions closer to where we are now. And she's been right every single time. So they're saying 2030

Nathalie Morrison (2:50)

I wouldn't say so. The Economist is saying by 2030, 75%. The DMCC say 100%. I'm going to make a bet on 90%.

I want to know what specific aspect of this project really resonated with you. What was, yes, this is, I need to be in on this.

Sarah Jessica Parker (3:06)

I think the creative part is always really compelling to me.

But if that alone without the kind of structure around it that is necessary, as I've discovered over the many years, being a creative person, you don't have, you don't get very far, it doesn't matter how big you dream. But there was also this technology that Nathalie was particularly excited about. She was extremely excited about the creative and what could be done, and what she wanted to do inside Astrea, and what she hoped we could do with this other collection inside Astrea. But the technology was a phenomenon to me, and the fact that we could have so much flexibility, that you could ask so much of it, that color and quality and cut and clarity, and a kind of elegance and beauty that didn't, and luxury that didn't exist yet in the lab-grown diamond business, was pretty exciting to try to be worthy of, you know? And thus far, she's been right.