According to one Global Rough Diamond Price Index, diamond prices are down 18% from their all-time highs in February 2022 and are down 6.5% year to date. And market observers expect that their worth is set to further decline.
Paul Zimnisky, the CEO of Paul Zimnisky Diamond Analytics, stated that the price of a 1-carat natural diamond with slightly above-average grade was $6,700 one year ago and is now $5,300.
During the Covid-19 outbreak, prices for diamonds and other jewelry rose, reaching a peak in early last year.
In a survey from February of last year, management consulting company Bain & Company stated that “consumers were ready to spend.” They said that because of the booming financial markets and economic stimulus plans, they had plenty of money and were anxious to use it to buy special presents for their loved ones.
Consumers are choosing lab-grown diamonds in greater numbers, according to Edahn, CEO of Edahn Golan Diamond Research & Data. Sales of lab-grown diamonds are increasing relative to natural diamond sales. They were just 2.4% in 2020. They have already reached 9.3% as of 2023, he claimed.
Extreme pressure and heat are used to make lab-grown diamonds in a controlled environment, simulating the formation of natural diamonds hundreds of kilometers deep in the Earth’s mantle.
They are a “perfect substitute,” according to Daga, CEO of Angara Jewelry, since they are chemically, physically, and visually similar to actual diamonds. But more critically for the majority, they are much less expensive.
According to Edahn Golan, the price of lab-grown diamonds has been “nosediving,” falling 59% over the previous three years.
“Three years ago, a lab-grown counterpart might be purchased for 20% to 30% less than a natural product. Now it’s anywhere from 75% to 90% less than natural pricing, according to Daga, who attributed the lower prices to robots becoming more productive and creating more synthetic diamonds.