Great-great-grandson of Louis Cartier and L.A-based Frenchman Jean Dousset has just opened his first boutique in West Hollywood. A sleek, elegant space, designed by Los Angeles architects ‘Design, Bitches’, dedicated to jewelry collections made from synthetic luxury diamonds or lab-grown diamonds. The brand hopes to open other boutiques in major U.S. cities and in France. FashionNetwork.com spoke to its founder a few days after the boutique’s opening.
FNW: You’ve just opened your first boutique dedicated to lab-grown diamonds. What does this mean for the diamond industry?
Jean Dousset: Lab-grown diamonds are a real liberation for the diamond industry. For a long time, the diamond industry was mired in an unreal and conservative world, where very high prices prevented dreams from becoming true. With lab-grown diamonds, we’re changing scale and, without altering quality, making it easy for customers to afford a diamond. A true disruption of the system! And we’re delighted to be pioneers in this new luxury industry.
FNW: What exactly does laboratory diamond production involve?
JD: Today’s laboratory technology can reproduce exactly the same conditions of pressure and high temperature in which natural diamonds are formed in the earth’s crust. Lab-grown diamonds are therefore not fake diamonds, and no diamond expert in the world today can distinguish between a natural and a lab-grown diamond.
FNW: What is the value of a lab-grown diamond compared to a natural diamond?
JD: Diamonds remain a luxury product. The only thing that changes is the manufacturing cost, which lowers the selling price. For example, a 10-carat natural diamond ring costing 1.5 million dollars can now be bought for around 100,000 dollars, thanks to lab-grown diamonds. The scale has changed, and the audience is there.
FNW : How did you get into diamonds?
JD: I am the great-great grandson of Louis Cartier. I didn’t grow up in the workshops of the House of Cartier, which was sold in 1970, but I grew up with its heritage and collaborated with some of the greatest houses such as Chaumet and Van Cleef & Arpels. After a few real estate projects in Los Angeles, I returned to my first love by creating a jewelry and diamond brand, exclusively online. First with a first ring, then a second, then a hundred… People liked the aesthetics of the brand, and saw in my descent from the Cartier’s family a token of trust. Celebrities like Paris Hilton and Eva Longaria bought their engagement rings from me, and things gradually progressed. Then, just as I was looking to expand, and make my work more accessible, the logic of lab-grown diamonds came to the fore. I quickly realized that lab-grown diamonds are definitely the diamond of the future.
NW: What does the opening of your first boutique mean to you?
JD: It’s a unique moment in my career that I could never have imagined. On July 14, 2021, I launched “Oui, Jean Dousset”, my first lab-grown diamonds collection for modern consumers. It was a test. And it was an instant hit. A few months later, I abandoned natural diamonds and now, the store. The store has been cut like a diamond, discreet and elegant, and features the Cartier family heritage on one of the walls.
FNW: Why did you choose West Hollywood?
Jean Dousset: I spent 10 years in this neighborhood, where I had my company’s office. This central boutique in West Hollywood, at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard, had the perfect light to sublimate my diamond collections. And beautiful brands like Glossier and, more recently, Ami have set up shop there.
FNW: What are your best-sellers?
JD: The Chelsea ring and the Elle ring are our bestsellers today. Slender engagement rings, handcrafted with rows of pavé diamonds, beautiful from every angle. We’ve also just launched our first collection of gold jewelry.
FNW: What are your ambitions for your brand?
JD: Naturally, I dream of opening more boutiques. Besides, 80% of people who want to buy diamonds, want to see them and try on the rings. I was dreaming of this boutique in Los Angeles, and now I’m looking at New York, all the other major cities in the United States and even Paris. We’re at a turning point in the success of lab-grown diamonds. It’s time to grow.
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