Australian jewellery retailer Secrets is gearing up for international expansion online, with New Zealand slated to be its next major market.

Customers in New Zealand can currently order from the Australian Secrets website, and while details are scarce, the retailer said in a statement that it will be launching a New Zealand website mid-year to better cater to the market.

The business currently has 16 stores across Australia, as well as an online portal.

It sells man-made diamond alternatives known as a diamond simulant, which are made in laboratories from natural mineral base zirconium oxide. According to Secrets, they possess all the optical qualities of fine quality diamonds – being visibly whiter and brighter than most middle-market stones.

“Our stones exhibit all the fire, brilliance and scintillation of the rarest diamonds unearthed, which is why women worldwide love the Secrets brand,” Secrets chief executive Mike Parsell said.

“We believe we offer the world a better beautiful.”

This also means the products are more environmentally-friendly than mining for natural diamonds, Parsell points out.

“We do not displace tonnes and tonnes of earth to find a single one-carat diamond. Our stones are conflict-free.”