De Beers Group has officially announced its intention to close Lightbox, its lab-grown diamond brand. The decision marks a significant shift in strategy for the diamond giant, which had launched the brand in 2018 to establish a presence in the lab-grown market by offering an accessible and transparent alternative.
Lightbox’s value proposition, as acknowledged by De Beers Group on May 9, 2025, ultimately proved unsustainable. The company has begun consultations for the gradual wind-down of operations, including the synthetic diamond production facility in Gresham, Oregon, which has been active since 2020.
According to Rapaport News, the decision reflects a dramatically changed market environment. The sharp decline in lab-grown diamond prices has made the Lightbox model increasingly uncompetitive, particularly in comparison to more agile or vertically integrated producers.
The closure represents the final chapter in a series of strategic adjustments by De Beers. In 2021, the company expanded Lightbox’s offerings to include loose lab-grown diamonds — an early sign of repositioning in an increasingly competitive landscape.
In May 2024, De Beers introduced a more aggressive pricing strategy and began offering quality grading reports for Lightbox diamonds — an important shift for a brand that had initially distanced itself from traditional gemological standards.
Finally, De Beers later confirmed its decision to halt production of synthetic diamonds for Lightbox, signaling a gradual retreat from the lab-grown diamond segment.
With the exit of one of the sector’s most emblematic players, a new chapter opens for the lab-grown diamond industry. Yet De Beers is not abandoning synthetic diamond technology altogether.
Element Six, the group’s subsidiary that had previously produced lab-grown diamonds for Lightbox, will now focus exclusively on industrial applications of synthetic diamonds.
With over seven decades of expertise, Element Six is well-positioned to lead in the rapidly growing field of advanced technologies. By centralizing CVD diamond production at its state-of-the-art facility in Gresham, Oregon, Element Six aims to accelerate innovation in high-growth sectors such as semiconductors and quantum technologies, supported by its expanding global network of partners.
Commenting on the transition, Al Cook, Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Group, stated: «The planned closure of Lightbox reflects our commitment to natural diamonds. We are also excited at the growing commercial potential for synthetic diamonds in the technology and industrial space».
