Virginia Drosos, CEO of Signet Jewelers, noted a decline in sales during the fourth fiscal quarter, attributing it to heightened consumer awareness about the falling prices of lab-grown diamonds (LGDs), IDEX Online reports.
During an analyst call, Drosos has been quoted as saying: “I think that consumers are becoming more aware that lab-created diamond prices are falling. And so while they might be great for fashion jewelry, there’s something very, very rare and individual about a natural diamond. And so we think that that is a potential tailwind for natural diamonds in the year ahead.”
Signet’s sales fell by 6% year-on-year to $2.5 billion during the period. Notably, the average transaction value experienced a slight decrease of 0.6% in North America and a significant 10% decline in other regions.
Drosos mentioned that lab-grown diamond sales constitute a “teens percentage” of Signet’s total revenue. Nonetheless, the company’s strategy of integrating more lab-grown diamonds into the fashion jewelry category yielded positive results during the holiday season. Despite this, Signet anticipates a “mid-single digits” downturn in the overall jewelry industry for the current year.
