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Why ‘purist’ Japan took a liking to lab-grown diamonds

Amish Shah, president of ALTR Created Diamonds, spoke to Arab News on the sidelines of the Dubai Diamond Conference in Dubai. (Supplied)
Amish Shah, president of ALTR Created Diamonds, spoke to Arab News on the sidelines of the Dubai Diamond Conference in Dubai. (Supplied)
15 Oct 2019 06:10:12 GMT9
15 Oct 2019 06:10:12 GMT9

Staff Writer

“What marketing may not be able to sell to the Japanese … knowledge will be able to,” Amish Shah, president of ALTR Created Diamonds, told Arab News on the sidelines of the Dubai Diamond Conference.

The theme of the one-day event, hosted by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, was: “Disruption in Diamonds: Harnessing Innovation and Technology for Positive Change.”

The pioneer of the global lab-grown diamond revolution had been trying to introduce the lab-grown diamond into the Japanese market, but Shah had reservations that later were put to rest.

“When you’re starting to take your brand out at the global level after your first launch, you try to list countries you feel will be the most acceptable,” he said.

“I remember thinking, ‘OK, Japan.’ But the Japanese are purists, so I was like, ‘how is it going to work in Japan?’,” he added.

“What was interesting was at the very first event … they corrected us by saying they understand the magic of science,” Shah said.

“If you think about Japan in the last 50 years, science has enabled them and has infused in their culture, such that Japan has … the most acceptance of creating diamonds from anywhere in the world,” he added.

“This isn’t only ALTR saying it. Studies show that Japan is the most accepting ... After that is Europe,” he said.

“Culturally also, it’s the way the Japanese look at things and accept them. When you look at the Japanese, they’re very simple people. This culture in the Japanese was borne out with that depth and knowledge.”

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