My friend was quoted $20,000 for a 3.50 carat lab-grown diamond engagement ring.
The same ring was made by HEIREST for $7,999. And at that price, there was still margin to reinvest. The obvious question that arose: where does the other $12,000 actually go in the 'traditional' model?
It isn't the stone, and it isn't the metal. Most of it comes from the outdated retail model itself.
Where the margin goes
I spent the first eight years of my career around big box retail. When I looked at the jewellery industry, it was clear the operating model was incredibly expensive: prime real estate across a portfolio of boutiques, working capital tied up in inventory that can sit in a showcase for months, contents insurance for that inventory, layers of distribution between the workshop and the customer, and marketing spend inflated, in large part, to protect the price perception that justifies the margin in the first place.
Rethinking the distribution model and going direct through a website doesn't fix this on its own. It swaps showroom costs for digital acquisition costs, and if the underlying model doesn't change, the overheads simply move and the customer doesn't benefit.
The stone
The stone is typically the single largest cost in a piece of jewellery. Diamond pricing is driven by carat weight, but not linearly. A two-carat diamond is not twice the price of a one-carat diamond. Because larger stones are rarer, price increases exponentially with size.
Beyond carat weight, the remainder of the 4Cs play a key role in pricing. Colour: D, E, and F command a premium, though the visual difference in a mounted ring between D and G is negligible. Clarity: grades above VS2 carry a premium for improvements that may not be visible to the eye. Cut: the most important factor for how the stone actually looks - and the most undervalued in pricing conversations. HEIREST sources Excellent or Ideal cut only.
What's interesting is how the natural diamond market is reacting to the rise of lab-grown supply (and popularity!). In 2025, sub-0.5 carat natural diamonds fell in price by ~26%, with natural stones greater than 1.0 carat falling by 11%. At the same time, the adoption of lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings continues to reach all-time highs. From 0.3% in 2010 to 61% in 2026, it's clear this is what the majority of the market wants.
The metal
Gold is a commodity with a daily spot price. 18k contains more pure gold than 9k - that difference is in the price. Platinum is denser than gold and priced separately from it. A platinum piece uses more metal by weight, and that weight is reflected in the cost.
The craftsmanship
Every HEIREST piece is cast, hand-set, hand-polished, and individually inspected. The complexity of the setting affects how long this takes: a six-prong solitaire is less labour-intensive than a pavé band or a multi-stone halo. That time is in the price.
Lab-grown vs. natural
A one-carat round, DEF colour, VS clarity natural diamond currently sells for approximately USD $4,500. The immediate depreciation on leaving a retailer is 30% to 40%. The equivalent lab-grown stone: approximately USD $1,000. HEIREST prices start from around USD $500 for equivalent specifications.
The value relationship between lab and natural has also shifted (approximately 90% parity in 2010 to ~20% today). This is not a reflection on quality, but rather one of an over-supply within the marketplace.
What HEIREST does differently
Every variable has a price, and that price updates as you configure. Metal type, stone specification, setting complexity: each decision has a visible cost.
The $7,999 ring was priced honestly, from components, with nothing hidden.
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Meet our Founder - Liam Whittaker Before starting the business, he served as COO of ZURU Edge - one of the world's fastest-growing consumer goods companies - where he spent close to a decade scaling global operations. He founded HEIREST because he believed fine jewellery deserved a better model: one where the customer has full information, full control, and every decision in the piece is theirs to make. |
