This episode is brought to you by Fully Gemstones.

A lot of what surrounds Lab Diamonds is that, you know, yes, they're not digging a hole in the ground,

but they take a lot of energy, etc., to produce.

So it's not a clear-cut thing between the two.

I'm always surprised by new things that I see in the diamond world

and I'm probably at this point in time more optimistic than I have been for quite a long time.

Welcome to If Jewels Could Talk. I'm Carol Walton, the voice of jewelry, an author, broadcaster,

and the woman who initiated the role of

Jewelry editor at magazines like Tattler and British Vogue.

This is a podcast for everyone.

For people who do like jewellery, for people who don't realise they like jewellery,

and anyone intrigued by fascinating facts, new ideas and forgotten histories.

So please join me as I tell sparkly tales meeting all sorts of people

delving into four centuries of jewellery culture and investigate what's happening now.

Today we're going to talk about the future of diamonds. I'm really happy to be joined by London-based American Stephen Lucia,

the De Beers Group's Executive President for Brands and Consumer Markets,

who's been selling diamonds and all the dreams and aspirations that go with them for nearly 40 years.

He's leaving his role and remaining as a strategic advisor and chairman of the Natural Diamond

Council, which is a resource and authority on mine diamonds. And he was the recent winner of the

2002 Gem Award for Lifetime Achievement. Steve and Lucia, thank you so much for joining us today.

Yeah, great to be here.

Really looking forward to it, Carol.

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