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Adelaide Founder Builds Global Lab Diamond Empire: 14 Showrooms Across 4 Continents
Iris Arnold founded Novita Diamonds in Australia and now runs a business spanning 16 showroom locations across four continents, built entirely on laboratory-grown stones.
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How we reported this
Adelaide is not the obvious birthplace of an international jewellery brand. It is, nonetheless, part of the story of one.
Novita Diamonds, an Australian seller of lab grown diamonds, was founded by Iris Arnold, its Global CEO, who had been waiting for lab grown stones to reach commercial viability before entering the market. The company takes its name from the Latin for new.
From one market to 16 locations
The company now runs Australian showrooms in Adelaide, Sydney, Parramatta, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, with further locations in Singapore, New Zealand, London, Manchester, Germany, Barcelona, Madrid, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Its model is appointment-based rather than high-street retail, which the company attributes to keeping prices below traditional jewellers.
Leadership structure
Arnold has built the business around female leadership. The company states that 80 per cent of its workforce and all top management roles are held by women. Its gemmologists and jewellers, described internally as the A-Team, are said to hold more than 40 years of combined experience.
The market it grew into
Lab grown stones have moved from curiosity to mainstream option in under a decade, driven mainly by buyers under 35 who tend to weigh transparency and value more heavily than previous generations. lab grown diamonds are winning over Singapore buyers under 35.
The company reports more than 10,500 five-star reviews. Whether the category holds its value over time remains genuinely contested within the trade, but the demand side of the argument has largely been settled by buyers themselves.
Sources: The Korea Times, Novita Diamonds CEO Iris Arnold shares insights into the future of lab grown gems.