For decades, the idea of a diamond in India has been inseparable from permanence and ritual. Jewellery was bought to be passed down and preserved, measuring its worth not just in carats but in longevity. However, in the past few years, lab-grown diamonds have emerged against this backdrop, positioned not as replacements but as a parallel proposition. These diamonds, created in controlled environments, are identical in physical and optical properties; at the same time, they challenge the logic of scarcity-led pricing and mining-linked anxieties. Their early relevance remained narrow: centred on younger, urban consumers who approached jewellery through affordability and everyday wearability rather than inheritance value or long-term appreciation.
That positioning kept lab-grown diamonds on the margins of India’s jewellery conversation for years. But the category’s centre of gravity is now beginning to shift. Largely shaped by D2C startups and new-age brands, this category for long focused on building awareness, educating consumers, and normalising ownership without the reassurance of legacy trust.
But that balance now appears to be shifting. Titan Company, with the launch of beYon, has entered the lab-grown diamond category after having observed it from a distance. The move definitely signals a transition from experimentation to institution-building but also raises a deeper question: why did a legacy brand decide to enter the lab-grown diamond industry? And why is it doing so through a separate brand?
According to a report by Wazir Advisors, lab-grown diamonds already account for close to 30% of the diamond jewellery market globally, with the US contributing 75–80% of total LGD consumption. In contrast, diamond ownership in India remains under 10%, leaving significant headroom for expansion without directly displacing natural diamonds. This gap has increasingly been filled by working women, millennials, and Gen Z buyers and consumers driving demand for lightweight, repeat-wear jewellery designed for lifestyle use rather than ceremonial occasions. Thus, the timing of Titan’s entrance appears less opportunistic and more inevitable.
And it is this behavioural shift that legacy players now appear to be responding to, albeit cautiously. Reetesh Gade, a senior marketing professional who has worked with legacy brands such as TBZ and VBJ Jewellers, sees lab-grown diamonds less as a disruption and more as a calibrated expansion, “Legacy jewellers should evaluate lab-grown diamonds through targeted consumer research, market pilots, and competitive analysis. LGDs can be a viable growth lever, especially for Gen Z, millennials, and professionals who prioritise affordable, everyday luxury matching traditional design standards. India’s LGD sector reached $300–350 million by 2024 with 15% annual growth and a 25 lakh carat domestic output. For brands I advise, entry timelines span 12–18 months post-pilot, confirming 20%+ margins and consumer traction, positioning LGD as portfolio expansion, not replacement, for sustained relevance.”
What this highlights is not urgency, but deliberate testing and sequencing. Legacy jewellers are not rushing in to mirror challenger playbooks; they are testing where lab-grown diamonds fit within existing brand architectures and understand how consumer behaviour is evolving at scale. Rohit Bhatiani, Executive Director, Wazir Advisors, explains, “Wazir Advisors’ research with LGD retailers and consumers shows accelerating adoption of lab-grown diamonds in urban India, driven primarily by working women and a large cohort of existing natural-diamond owners. LGDs are being positioned as an everyday-wear diamond alternative, while natural diamonds remain anchored to special occasions, creating a new, incremental demand pool rather than direct cannibalisation. Legacy players, with strong design capabilities and established customer relationships, are well placed to capture this expanding segment.”
This incremental framing helps explain why Titan chose to launch beYon as a standalone vertical rather than folding LGDs into an existing heritage brand. The separation allows experimentation with a new consumption logic without unsettling long-held associations around natural diamonds.
Pelki Tshering, Chief Marketing Officer, Tanishq, articulates this separation clearly, “We see lab-grown diamonds as a very different segment of the market. In India, diamond penetration is still at around 10%, while the aspiration to own diamonds is very high. There is a large group of consumers who have not yet taken the first step towards owning a natural diamond or want it not for emotion or historic value but for adornment and that consumer might opt in for lab-grown diamonds. For Tanishq, natural diamonds are not just about affordability or access. They are not just a product; they carry emotion, history, and meaning, and that is what we celebrate.”
Lloyd Mathias, Angel Investor and Independent Director, views the move as strategic participation as well as category validation “As the market leader in jewellery, Titan sees a big opportunity because lab-grown diamonds are a rapidly growing segment. There is growing acceptability of lab-grown diamonds as a lifestyle product, and Titan wanted to capitalise on that opportunity. The advantage they bring is trust. With Titan’s entry, lab-grown diamonds suddenly have got a lot more respectability and heft in the marketplace, and that scepticism around owning them will diminish rapidly.”
Once that legitimacy is established, however, the nature of competition changes. The question is no longer who introduced lab-grown diamonds to Indian consumers, but who defines what the category stands for next. The question then shifts: does it recalibrate the advantage held by brands that built the space first?
Among lab-grown diamond native brands, the response is largely confident rather than defensive. Sabin Choksi, Co-Founder and in-house Designer, Anor Luxury, sees a clear split between awareness and aspiration, “When a legacy brand like Titan enters lab-grown diamonds, it validates what independent luxury houses like Anor have been building for years: that this is a serious, enduring category. We’ve seen this before: Swarovski built an aspirational universe around crystal, elevating glass through design, craftsmanship, and branding. Mass awareness and premium leadership are two very different games. Titan will expand familiarity; Anor will continue to define aspiration.”
As scale enters the system, early-mover advantage shifts away from education toward execution, design language, retail experience, and brand clarity. That transition, challenger brands argue, plays to strengths they have been building quietly. Namita Kothari, Founder, Akoirah by Augmont, builds on this perspective. She says, “A legacy brand like Titan entering lab-grown diamonds is a strong validation of the category rather than a dilution of challenger advantage. When a trust-led, large-scale player steps in, it signals that lab-grown diamonds have moved beyond early experimentation into wider consumer acceptance. Early movers built understanding and transparency; that foundation becomes more relevant as consumers start comparing brands on design, credibility, service, and long-term value.”
Yet expansion brings its own pressures. According to Wazir Advisors, India’s LGD market, currently growing at around 14% CAGR, could accelerate to as high as 25% CAGR with the entry of large, trust-led players. But growth at scale also sharpens scrutiny.
Pooja Madhavan, Founder and MD, Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds, views this phase as a filter. She says, “In many ways, the category is now moving from early adoption to mainstream credibility. The entry of a legacy brand will accelerate category maturity. It will expand awareness, reduce hesitation among first-time buyers, and normalise lab-grown diamonds as a legitimate choice in fine jewellery. But at the same time, consumers will expect greater transparency, better design differentiation, and clearer value propositions. This is healthy; it separates meaningful brands from opportunistic ones.”
That maturation, however, is unlikely to be frictionless. Supply has surged nearly tenfold since 2018, while wholesale prices have fallen sharply, compressing margins and exposing inconsistencies across retailers. As the market stabilises, operational realities begin to surface alongside brand narratives. And as the category stabilises, credibility is increasingly tied to discipline rather than hype.
Ramit Kapur, Managing Director, Gemological Science International (GSI), offers a perspective on this pressure, saying, “Over the past year, we have observed a 20–25% increase in lab-grown diamond jewellery submissions across our laboratories in India, indicating that new retailers are entering the LGD space regularly. However, LGD jewellery is largely viewed as part of the higher fashion jewellery category. Buyback options are generally not offered due to continuous value decline, and pricing discipline across retailers remains a challenge. While margins may appear attractive today, increased consumer awareness will lead to transparency and margin compression over time.”
Building on that sense, Titan’s launch of beYon introduces a more complex question than validation alone. As lab-grown diamonds move into the mainstream, the challenge may no longer lie in convincing consumers to accept them but in managing expectations around quality and longevity. How successfully the original players do that is still left to be seen but that may ultimately decide whether they evolve into a lasting pillar of fine jewellery or remain a high-velocity, fashion-led segment shaped by cycles rather than legacy.
