On Oct. 11, WD Lab Grown Diamonds, one of the first companies to produce man-made diamonds, filed for Chapter 7 in the Delaware federal court.
Filing for Chapter 7 means a company intends to liquidate.
In its initial petition, the Beltsville, Md.–based company, which goes by the corporate name M7D, listed current assets as $3.06 million, and liabilities as $44.8 million. It estimated its number of creditors from 100 to 199.
WD Diamonds Intermediate Holdings was named as a co-debtor.
The company listed gross revenue for the year 2023 (to date) as $8.4 million. Revenues were $33 million in 2022, and $17.9 million in 2021.
The petition listed Oscar Massin, the recently revived heritage brand which uses lab-grown diamonds, as a company in which it was an “owner, partner, or member.” Oscar Massin executives did not return a request for comment by press time.
The company debuted in 2008 as Washington Diamond Corp., using diamond-growing technology licensed from the Carnegie Institute of Washington. Originally headed by former British jeweler Clive Hill, WD was purchased by Huron Capital in 2019.
The company originally focused on the gem business, and in 2019, hired Sue Rechner, an experienced brand builder, as CEO. It also joined the Plumb Club and started a proprietary label, Latitude.
In 2020, it made news by suing several lab-grown rivals for using what it called its proprietary technology. It settled with some companies, but the court dismissed its case against Fenix Diamonds, and last month it dropped its final appeal.
However, in recent months WD had been telling people it was pivoting to the tech side of the business. In 2021, it bought Chicago-based diamond grower J2 Materials.
In December 2022, it appointed a new CEO, Mike Grunza, replacing Rechner.
Photo courtesy of WD Lab Grown Diamonds
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