In February, the French government issued an edict that lab-grown diamonds sold in France must be labelled “synthetic” to distinguish them from mined diamonds. It’s a sure indicator that this part of the diamond trade shows no signs of slowing down.

“In the past 12 to 18 months, we have seen a huge uptick of lab-grown diamonds in the jewellery industry,” says Noura Sakkijha, co-founder of US-based brand Mejuri, which started using them last year. “Customers are more knowledgeable, and we see the appetite within our own customer base as they have reached out asking for it.”