The new store offers Artisan Created Diamonds TM alongside earth-mined stones
The growing millennial trend toward ethically responsible, environmentally sustainable and more affordable lab-created diamonds have come to Ottawa with the opening of the area’s first Spence Diamonds.
Vancouver-based Spence is the only diamond retailer in Canada to focus its business on Artisan Created Diamonds (ACDs), which according to Spence are physically, chemically and optically identical to natural diamonds, while also selling the earth-mined counterparts. The company opened its new store in the Rideau Center on Dec. 11.
The store offers a unique diamond shopping experience, with open cases featuring more than 2,500 designer prototype ring styles for unrestricted, intimidation-free try-ons. Spence’s GIA-certified diamond consultants provide an unbiased, immersive education about cut, color, clarity, size, setting, style and the stones’ origins. Customers then select their style, setting, stone and metal to create a one-of-a-kind ring that Spence handcrafts just for them at its Vancouver studio.
“For more than 40 years, Spence has offered its customers the education, choice and confidence to create the exact piece of jewellery that defines their moment and reflects their budget,” said Spence Executive Chairman Eric Lindberg.
“While we still offer the finest conflict-free earth-mined diamonds, we believe that Artisan Created Diamonds are the future of this business, and we’ve found that 80 percent of our customers who learn about them choose ACDs over earth-mined.”
Though Artisan Created Diamonds are always at least 33 percent larger and are of higher quality by two clarity grades than a similarly priced earth-mined diamond, many buyers are more attracted to the ethics and value behind the ACD trend.
“Spence customers who choose a beautiful Artisan Created Diamond can be assured that no human was ever exploited in the creation of their diamonds and they are helping to protect the planet against mineral exploitation,” said Lindberg. As part of its ethically responsible mission, Spence Diamonds works with Not For Sale, a global nonprofit working to protect people and communities around the world from human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Spence donates a portion of each sale of an Artisan Created Diamond to Not For Sale.
