Wonder
Sign up
Log in
Research Outline
Prepared for Barbara B. | Delivered December 5, 2019
US Bridal Market Disruptors
Review your project details
Goals
To identify new entrants into the United States bridal market and how their presence is impacting the competition.
View less
Early Findings
According to Intertank, the following companies are disrupting the US bridal market:
Diamond Foundry
,
Blue Nile
, and
Rent The Runway
. These companies are making
online channels
an important part of the user experience.
Diamond Foundry
Diamond Foundry
is a new entrant in the bridal market that "uses plasma reactors to turn diamond “
seeds
,” or tiny shards of diamond, into
gemstones
."
Founded in
2012
, Diamond Foundry manufactures a variety of jewelry, including
engagement rings
. So far, it has raised
$100 million
in funding.
The company has a facility in
San Francisco
and Washington, as well as a polishing factory located in China. It produces
100,000 carats
yearly.
Well-known jewelry brands like
Swarovski
, as well as trendy direct-to-consumer engagement ring brands like
Vrai & Oro
, rely on diamonds manufactured by Diamond Foundry. These diamonds "retail for
20% to 25%
less than their mined counterparts."
According to the founder of Diamond Foundry, R. Martin Roscheisen, the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) is actively
blocking the efforts
of his company to advertise jewelry produced with Diamond Foundry diamonds.
A 2016 report by Morgan Stanley reveals that man-made diamonds represent just
1%
of the global rough-diamond market (
$14 billion
). However, "the DPA appears to consider them a
credible threat
."
In 2017, the DPA spent
$57 million
on its marketing which included a campaign known as “
Real Is Rare
”.
Martin Roscheisen revealed that Diamond Foundry wants to drive the
prices of diamonds down
. The company has been listed on Inc's
25 Most Disruptive
Companies, as well as CNBC’s
Top 50 Disruptors
.
In response to this new threat,
De Beers
— a major player in the bridal market that previously encouraged consumers to patronize "real" precious stones, has recently launched a new jewelry brand "that features
synthetic diamonds
."
View less