Pamela Anderson and Grace Coddington front Pandora diamond campaign

Jewellery brand aims to make lab-grown gems everyone's best friend

Pamela Anderson stars in the Diamonds for All campaign. Photo: Pandora
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Pandora is doubling down on its commitment to use only lab-grown diamonds with its latest advertising campaign.

Called Diamonds for All, it stars an eclectic line-up, including the actress and activist Pamela Anderson; former US Vogue creative director Grace Coddington; Justina Miles, the sign language interpreter who shot to fame during Rihanna's Super Bowl performance; and the models Precious Lee and Sherry Shi.

Together they are helping to launch three new lines aimed at making diamonds accessible to a wider audience.

In 2021, Pandora vowed to use only lab-grown diamonds, instead of mined ones.

The collection of rings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants is offered at a considerably lower price point thanks to the lab-grown diamonds used, with pieces priced from £225, (Dh1,039).

Lab-grown diamonds remain somewhat controversial, however. Dismissed by the diamond mining industry as being worthless or fake, in reality, lab-grown diamonds are indistinguishable from mined stones, even by experts. The only difference is a fractional change in nitrogen levels at the molecular level, detectable only by specialist laboratories.

There are valid concerns about the carbon footprint of manufactured diamonds, however, as much of the supply chain is powered by electricity generated from coal. To sidestep this issue, Pandora has found a supplier that uses only renewable energy, which claims to cut the carbon footprint by almost 95 per cent.

In making diamonds accessible to a wider audience, Pandora says it is focused on "democratising jewellery". According to a statement, the brand is not offering "once-in-a-lifetime" diamonds, but lab-grown stones that allow women to "celebrate" every day.

Updated: August 29, 2023, 4:03 PM