The End of De Beers' Monopoly and the Rise of Ethical Diamond Jewelry
Anna-Mieke Anderson, Founder & CEO of MiaDonna & Company and The Greener Diamond Foundation.
It’s official: De Beers, the diamond titan that once seemed untouchable, is facing its downfall—and I couldn’t be more pleased. Their decline is stark: from controlling 90% of the diamond industry in the 1980s to 29% in 2022, and now facing their likely sale by Anglo American. Industry analysts point to the explosive growth of lab-grown diamonds as the primary catalyst. While some credit De Beers with pioneering lab-grown diamonds through their subsidiary Lightbox, the real story is more complex. Yes, De Beers had its hand in developing the tech since the 1940s, but their goal was to protect their monopoly, secure synthetic diamond patents, and stop the lab-grown diamond industry from ever advancing. Ironically, this strategy has sealed their fate due to their inability to adapt and evolve with society.
Nearly 20 years ago, I started MiaDonna, the first lab-grown jewelry company, as a social enterprise linked with my foundation, The Greener Diamond. I was a young mother, with no diamond business experience, no industry contacts, and no financial backers. What I had was drive, sparked by the realization that blood had likely been shed for my diamond engagement ring. Obsessive research opened my eyes to corruption, exploitation, starvation, and environmental destruction. My personal protest involved ripping off my engagement ring, and personally sponsoring families in mining communities. This quest led to the birth of MiaDonna, sponsorship on a much larger scale, and a solution ensuring no mother would lose her child to war for a diamond again.
While I acknowledge De Beers played a significant role in developing lab-grown diamonds, our motives were very different. When I started my mission in 2005 most experts laughed when I first proposed using technology to create diamonds in a lab and then giving our profits back to mining communities. Yet again, persistence paid off. I wore down the resistance of the very few forward thinkers I encountered—people I call the true pressure pioneers—and together, we drove the refinement of the high-pressure/high-temperature and then chemical vapor deposition processes, culminating in MiaDonna’s 2016 debut of a 6.28-carat lab-grown diamond, unveiled by goodwill ambassador Khaliah Ali.
Meanwhile, DeBeers and its industry association proxies applied their own pressure against me, slowly rising over the years from sneering, offhanded dismissals to ad-hominem attacks, online threats, and multiple threats of lawsuits. Media coverage and speaking appearances were scuttled at the last minute or became venues for assaults against my character.
After quickly developing a tolerance for the scapegoating and intimidation, I was able to take their scare tactics in stride. Along the way, I schooled myself on the industry, designed the retail strategy that became the template for lab-grown jewelry industry—now expected to reach $59.2 billion in 2032—and fostered those few industry connections willing to risk their own success to support the vision of a neophyte outsider promoting the heresy of lab-grown diamonds.
In 2016, my peers asked me to help found the International Grown Diamond Association, a non-profit with the remit of ensuring ethical practices and standards within the growing industry. Two years later, we successfully lobbied the FTC and the ISO for changes in regulation language to make it clear to consumers that mined and lab-grown diamonds are “chemically, optically, and physically identical”—an unthinkable concession, regardless of the facts, just a few years earlier.
That said, the business achievement I am most proud of is having shepherded one of the country’s first social enterprises. Since day one, at least 10% of our net profits have funded The Greener Diamond, dedicated to repairing the damage caused by unethical mining. This initiative began with farms in West Africa, offering reformed child soldiers a chance to grow food instead of mining diamonds.
In the wake of my eye-opening and heartbreaking first visit to West Africa in 2010—to mark the opening of the first farm funded directly by consumers purchasing lab-grown diamonds from MiaDonna—I envisioned an alternate reality where De Beers had invested even a fraction of their profits into these communities, fostering education, healthcare, and food stability. My life’s work would have been unnecessary, and nothing would have made me happier. However, the uncomfortable truth is that mining companies profit more during instability. A mining executive even expressed excitement to me about the UN leaving Liberia, allowing them to return to “business as usual.”
In 2018, De Beers stole the spotlight at the annual JCK convention in Las Vegas by hosting a presentation, packed with media and attendees, to announce the creation of Lightbox, a separate fashion jewelry brand to retail its line of lab-grown diamonds. Officially, the IGDA welcomed the news, applauding De Beers for helping to raise consumer awareness. Privately I believed they meant to depict lab-grown diamonds as second-tier—or, in the words of De Beers CEO, Bruce Cleaver, “… A fun, pretty product … that may not be forever, but is perfect for right now.” The underlying goal appeared transparent: to undermine and ridicule the credibility of the product, a tactic reminiscent of the disparagement directed towards both myself and my character, as well as the historical treatment of disobedient women within patriarchal societies since the birth of the industrial age.
No company is invulnerable to technological advancements, infrastructure innovation, and evolving societal attitudes. Change is inevitable, and businesses that fail to respond and lead the way are destined to fall—even giants like De Beers.
De Beers’ decline was inevitable, rooted in its addiction to a fossilized business model. Its attempt to diminish the lab-grown diamond market was a desperate act of self-preservation and greed. Initially, I saw the launch of Lightbox as cynical, but it was the first step toward surrender. My role was to accelerate this process by introducing ethical, sustainable alternatives to a market ready for change.
De Beers' demise is a testament to persistence, ethics, and the demand for a more conscientious approach to luxury. While lab-grown diamonds aren't perfect yet, they represent a triumph for a new generation of consumers and jewelers committed to a brighter, more sustainable future.
