Page 49 - Travel Markets Insider October 2021 Final

INSIDER

The Engrace Diamonds by Little Switzerland are lab-grown using a proprietary process that includes creating naturally colored blue, yellow
and pink diamonds.

so brilliant. We are selling these with the diamonds. “Our core business has been working
emphasis on quality as well as the weight “The natural diamond industry was with brands for more than 60 years, and
of the stone,” he explains. fighting this heavily, but the FTC rule will continue to be so. This new brand
On top of the quality of the stones, stands, as long as we disclose that the will enable us to expand further,” explains
Tayler says that the timing of this project diamonds are lab-grown,” said Tayler. Tayler.
is perfect, as so many shoppers are looking “From that point forward, the trend has just “With Engrace, Little Switzerland
for products that are more socially and blown up. When we launched, we thought is branding the jewelry made with our
environmentally conscious than in the past. our biggest challenge would be to educate proprietary Engrace diamonds. We
“This is especially true of the the consumer. But because of that ruling, think the Little Switzerland name means
millennials, many of whom choose we rarely come across customers who do something. We only sell the collections
to spend their money with companies not know what it is.” in gold, 14 karat and up, and we only sell
that reflect this philosophy. Lab-grown diamonds in SI to VS quality, as high as
diamonds check these boxes. Their The Little Switzerland appeal color you can go but no lower than I or
provenance is unquestionable. While we do The Engrace Diamonds by Little J ( although lab-grown diamonds look
need a lot of electricity to grow diamonds, Switzerland are produced in a U.S.-based brighter).
it is much more acceptable than strip factory owned by an affiliated company of “We believe there is great credibility
mining, water waste and worse.” the U.S. Virgin Island-based retailer. and value in the Little Switzerland name.
The value aspect is also undeniable. “We can say that any finished diamond This is one of the reasons we are working
“Everybody comes in with a budget, but over 0.08 carats is grown in the USA. Since with Starboard—they also recognized the
when we show them a lab-grown diamond the majority of our customers we deal with value of the Little Switzerland name,” he
they see they can get twice as much for the are from the U.S. this is another plus, plus,” concluded.
same price as they would have gotten in the says Tayler. As of the beginning of October,
natural,” says Tayler. Little Switzerland also controls Tayler confirms that Engrace by Little
“In my 30 years in the industry, I the full process of creating the Engrace Switzerland is currently onboard four ships
have never seen a trend as big as this,” he diamonds. handled by Starboard, with three more
stresses. “I believe that we are the only ships being shipped product before the
company in the world that grows the end of November. Tayler anticipates being
A Diamond is a Diamond diamonds, cuts the diamonds, polishes onboard nine ships in total before the end
Greatly stimulating their appeal, lab- the diamonds, makes the finished jewelry of the year with plans to roll out to a large
grown diamonds are legally recognized as and retails the finished jewelry. We are portion of the fleet over the next couple of
real diamonds. totally vertical. Most traditional jewelers years.
The seminal event of lab-grown are buying their lab-grown diamonds from Little Switzerland is the largest luxury
diamonds took place in August 2018 someone else, and then making the jewelry. jeweler in the Caribbean and currently has
when the Federal Trade Commission “Another advantage is that Little more than 20 Little Switzerland stores and
in the U.S. came out with a ruling that Switzerland is a retailer, and we think of branded boutiques on the islands of Aruba,
essentially said, a diamond is a diamond. collections and assortments and how it all Barbados, Dominican Republic, Nassau,
Lab-grown diamonds are not simulated fits together. This is what we bring to the St. John, St. Thomas and Tortola. For more
(ie. like a zirconia), but are 100% identical consumer. We have assortments that have information about Engrace Diamonds by
to a diamond mined from the ground. been proven in retail environments – in Little Switzerland, please contact Jamal
Chemically, physically and visually, lab duty free retail environments. I know how Charles, Director of Operations – Engrace,
grown diamonds are identical to natural it works together and what sells,” he says. at jcharles@littleswitzerland.com

49 October 2021