Diamond prices are falling because disintermediation is "Cutting out the middlemen”

[oncrutchesrightnow]

Yay, fascinating discussion.

Non-argumentative question: Is there any other colorless rock in existence on this planet that is singly refractive, casts so many rainbows, and will not dull with daily wear? Moissanite is awesome but I can’t seem to find much that is free of blurriness due to the double refraction. Fabulite and CZ are softer.

Anybody have thoughts on how women’s increased spending power plus changes in family structure have or will affect the diamond industry?

 

[VDK1]

Yay, fascinating discussion.

Non-argumentative question: Is there any other colorless rock in existence on this planet that is singly refractive, casts so many rainbows, and will not dull with daily wear? Moissanite is awesome but I can’t seem to find much that is free of blurriness due to the double refraction. Fabulite and CZ are softer.

Anybody have thoughts on how women’s increased spending power plus changes in family structure have or will affect the diamond industry?

White Colorless Sapphire! Much more expensive than (white nature) diamond!

 

[Rockdiamond]

Yay, fascinating discussion.

Non-argumentative question: Is there any other colorless rock in existence on this planet that is singly refractive, casts so many rainbows, and will not dull with daily wear? Moissanite is awesome but I can’t seem to find much that is free of blurriness due to the double refraction. Fabulite and CZ are softer.

Anybody have thoughts on how women’s increased spending power plus changes in family structure have or will affect the diamond industry?

To the first- no. Sapphire doesn’t come close. Nor moissanite. Of course not CZ.
That’s really critical to the discussion. Being the “sparkiest” and un-dullable are features of both EGD and LGD.
I ( me personally) get the exact same rush looking at a sweetly cut, Colorless 4ct Emerald Cut diamond be it lab or earth mined. As made obvious by this, and other threads, a lot of participants here feel differently.

To the second point…..I think women have taken an increasingly active role in finance in general over the past decades.
A lot of our female clients love the lab growns. Hard to imagine the financial aspect isn’t at the forefront.

 

[aprilzephyr]

Yes, that is natural. Boys like hi-tech.
Some questions:
1. have they all honestly told their betroved that the diamond is manufactured?
2. is the percentage of accepted engagements as high with a lab diamond as with a natural diamond?
3. when that 3ct that cost $10k is seen advertised for less than a 1/10th - will they both be happy?

Respectfully, this is a very odd take... It could also be asked, are couples who bought EMD unhappy that their 1ct EMD diamond could've been had for 20% less this year because of the stiff competition from MMDs?

Are these sort of threads meant to inform or rather alarm us with news of falling diamond prices? I understand why some in the trade would be alarmed (analogy of Kodak and digital cameras come to mind ). As an ordinary consumer, I never deigned to think anything I buy would ever fetch what I bought them for esp jewellery, natural or lab... so falling prices do not make me unhappy about the $10K I spent on my earth mined diamond RHR. There was not a comparable diamond (natural or lab) at the time I purchased but I have immensely enjoyed wearing it in the years since.

My DH sent this article, "Bumpy Ride Ahead Amid Synthetic-Diamond Shake-Up," and the mental gymnastics that Rapaport engages in to mask his fear with a "solution" reads as desperate. "Rapaport is preparing a petition that will ask the FTC to require jewelers to disclose the expected decline in value when selling synthetics." What?? But earth mined diamonds are declining in price too? Same article states it dropped 20% from last year. Should jewellers disclose the same for EMDs? Do brands need to disclose when their items go on sale? Or do jewellery stores need to tell consumers when they put their inventory on sale?

For what it is worth, I'm an older millennial. I felt that the last two years or so, jewellery prices (and goods in general) have gotten far too expensive...

Brands have taken a leaf out of the diamond industry's outdated playbook and have conditioned consumers to believe every luxury good we buy is an "investment", keeping prices artificially inflated by not releasing stock or burning overstock (fashion houses have done this). So here we are going for luxury goods only if we can recapture the value later on, and yet the things actually worth buying (like a rooftop over our heads, affordable education, medical access and general living expenses) have been priced out of our and our children's reach.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Respectfully, this is a very odd take... It could also be asked, are couples who bought EMD unhappy that their 1ct EMD diamond could've been had for 20% less this year because of the stiff competition from MMDs?

Are these sort of threads meant to inform or rather alarm us with news of falling diamond prices? I understand why some in the trade would be alarmed (analogy of Kodak and digital cameras come to mind ). As an ordinary consumer, I never deigned to think anything I buy would ever fetch what I bought them for esp jewellery, natural or lab... so falling prices do not make me unhappy about the $10K I spent on my earth mined diamond RHR. There was not a comparable diamond (natural or lab) at the time I purchased but I have immensely enjoyed wearing it in the years since.

My DH sent this article, "Bumpy Ride Ahead Amid Synthetic-Diamond Shake-Up," and the mental gymnastics that Rapaport engages in to mask his fear with a "solution" reads as desperate. "Rapaport is preparing a petition that will ask the FTC to require jewelers to disclose the expected decline in value when selling synthetics." What?? But earth mined diamonds are declining in price too? Same article states it dropped 20% from last year. Should jewellers disclose the same for EMDs? Do brands need to disclose when their items go on sale? Or do jewellery stores need to tell consumers when they put their inventory on sale?

For what it is worth, I'm an older millennial. I felt that the last two years or so, jewellery prices (and goods in general) have gotten far too expensive...

Brands have taken a leaf out of the diamond industry's outdated playbook and have conditioned consumers to believe every luxury good we buy is an "investment", keeping prices artificially inflated by not releasing stock or burning overstock (fashion houses have done this). So here we are going for luxury goods only if we can recapture the value later on, and yet the things actually worth buying (like a rooftop over our heads, affordable education, medical access and general living expenses) have been priced out of our and our children's reach.

Appreciate your points of view. Don't agree with all of them.
But one I would like to address that is off diamond topic.
Baby boomers are getting blamed for rises in cost of homes (here in Australia and many other first world nations).
In 10 to 30 years we will all be pushing up daisys and many Millennials will be rich beyond belief.
It's all cycles
My Post Is my best guess as to why natural diamond prices have dropped. There has been a lot of dscussion as to why here.
But they have not dropped much after removing the Covid and Ukraine factors.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

White Colorless Sapphire! Much more expensive than (white nature) diamond!

Sapphire is doubly refractive, so suffers from the same lack of crispness due to facet edges overlapping (doubling). And they are not more expensive than diamond.

But if you are looking for a natural colorless gemstone, it's a good option.

 

[VDK1]

Sapphire is doubly refractive, so suffers from the same lack of crispness due to facet edges overlapping (doubling). And they are not more expensive than diamond.

But if you are looking for a natural colorless gemstone, it's a good option.

Oh yes, the untreated good quality white colorless saphires may be not as expensive as diamonds, but they are "rarer". Also the size of same weight saphire is smaller than diamond.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

@VDK1 @Texas Leaguer @Rockdiamond Thank you all — just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing an option.. I was so hopeful about moissanite. I do own a white sapphire cut in an unusual style but it lacks the Fire of diamonds. Love my sphenes but I got them as light as possible and they are still hazel, not to mention soft. Spinel is fabulous and PriceScope is to thank for that find, but still not as firey.

Anyway, my take on diamonds is that they will always have a special place in our hearts and in our fashion. Because diamonds are gorgeous and they don’t dull. Maybe they will be cheaper and therefore not a status symbol.

There are a zillion posts on “quote” for later. Love these social issue discussions.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

@VDK1 @Texas Leaguer @Rockdiamond[/USER
Because diamonds are gorgeous and they don’t dull. Maybe they will be cheaper and therefore not a status symbol.

If diamonds get cheaper there will be less of them because the balance of supply and demand dictates that.
Less cost equals less prospecting and fewer mines.

 

[Karl_K]

For those interested, idex is a good source of diamond trade news anyone can read.

News Room

as is the memo page

Super-Cheap a<b></b>nd Super-Expensive - IDEX's Memo

 

[AdaBeta27]

Maybe the lab costumers NOW will not want to see them as costume bc they all paid a good chunk of money. But what if they continue to plummet?
Do you see the moissanite parallel I mentioned? It certainly disrupted the industry bc it purported to appear like a natural. Did moissanite lovers pretend they were wearing naturals?
Now
that price plummeted—where are all the customers now? Probably buying labs.

*Some* moissanite buyers are opting for lab diamonds instead, because prices for well-cut lab diamonds have almost fallen to the level of the Joseph Schubach and Distinctinve Gem and other premium moissanites. Moissanite is still hugely popular. There are droves of us still buying it, and custom rings from China. But most of those people aren't on Pricescope. There are many colors of mossanite now, and the new rough doesn't have any of that olive green tint.

 

[Grymera]

This may come as a shock in this forum, but I currently wear a CZ sterling silver ring as my engagement/wedding ring. It is a very nice looking ring with a 6 mm CZ with a delicate halo. I have an actual platinum and (natural) diamond e-ring/wedding set, but that sits in the jewellery box. I like wearing the fake ring since it is light weight and I don't have to worry about losing it.

I have been wearing this ring for 3 years now. No one has ever asked if it is "real". If someone would have asked, I would have told them the truth. Do people assume it is real? They probably do, since both me and my husband are very well off.

@nojs I totally agree with your point, and it goes to show how costume jewelry can/does hold up wonderfully, and how hard it is for the general population to tell the value of jewelry.

I personally wear a platinum lab ruby/moissanite three stone about 80% of the time. When I bought it, I had no idea it would become my daily driver, but it's so practical, comfortable and worry free. I can wear it to the gym, sleep in it, shower in it, and never worry because it was so affordable.

Back to the topic at hand, I think those in the older generations have no idea the financial pressures on Millenials, Gen Z and younger. Even for those who "make it" and have higher incomes later in life, stomaching high mined diamond prices when there is the lab alternative is going to become less and less popular.

Personally, I think the trend for those wanting a mined stone will shift into emeralds, rubies and sapphires. After all, if you're willing to spend 10k, 20k, 30k on a mined stone ring, and you know it'll look identical to you cousin who spent 1k at Ritani, there's a bigger "wow" factor with a colored stone. Plus, at a certain point, the lab stone size race can really never be won with a mined stone unless someone has an unlimited budget. 2, 3 and 4 carat lab stones are so common now in diamonds that it also puts more pressure on mined buyers to "keep up with" the look that's dominating instagram. We've already seen an explosion of popularity with emerald toi et mois following Megan Fox's engagement. So I think the upper end of the market will start to shift preferences to get an "exclusive" look that's harder to replicate with less expensive stones.

 

[Crimson]

I am with you alll in my belief that jewellery for special occasions should spark joy, and make the wearer feel unique and wonderful. De Beers is back with their marketing campaign and will exit the lab-grown engagement ring market.

"A Diamond is Forever" is Back!

De Beers Group today announced it will reintroduce its ‘A Diamond is Forever’ tagline with an additional $20 million investment to support consumer demand in natural diamonds for the 2023 holiday season in the US and China. The category investment will be incremental to De Beers’ current brand...

roskingemnewsreport.com

De Beers Ends Lab-Grown Engagement-Ring Test

Lightbox, De Beers’ lab-grown diamond brand, has called off its trial of engagement rings, citing a lack of business prospects.

rapaport.com

 

[DejaWiz]

I am with you alll in my belief that jewellery for special occasions should spark joy, and make the wearer feel unique and wonderful. De Beers is back with their marketing campaign and will exit the lab-grown engagement ring market.

"A Diamond is Forever" is Back!

De Beers Group today announced it will reintroduce its ‘A Diamond is Forever’ tagline with an additional $20 million investment to support consumer demand in natural diamonds for the 2023 holiday season in the US and China. The category investment will be incremental to De Beers’ current brand...

roskingemnewsreport.com

De Beers Ends Lab-Grown Engagement-Ring Test

Lightbox, De Beers’ lab-grown diamond brand, has called off its trial of engagement rings, citing a lack of business prospects.

rapaport.com

I saw that coming from 20 miles away ... pricing didn't make sense to get maul jeweler quality where no specifics about the diamond's proportions, angles, and optics are known.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

I am with you alll in my belief that jewellery for special occasions should spark joy, and make the wearer feel unique and wonderful. De Beers is back with their marketing campaign and will exit the lab-grown engagement ring market.

"A Diamond is Forever" is Back!

De Beers Group today announced it will reintroduce its ‘A Diamond is Forever’ tagline with an additional $20 million investment to support consumer demand in natural diamonds for the 2023 holiday season in the US and China. The category investment will be incremental to De Beers’ current brand...

roskingemnewsreport.com

“Through the test the company deepened its understanding of LGDs and evaluated the changing landscape and consumer perceptions associated with them.”

In other words, it was a way to get consumer data.

”Further, the engagement ring test reinforced existing insights into the wider LGD sector that indicate the commercial proposition for many LGD engagement ring offers is likely unsustainable, with retailers already needing to double the number of LGD carats sold every two years just to maintain a flat absolute gross profit.”

In other words, LGD price drops, at whatever rate the marketers are predicting, combined with increases in LGD sales at whatever rate the marketers are predicting, will still allow vendors to profit off of LGD years into the future.

One interpretation of this article = major effort to salvage the value of existing inventory. Am sincerely wishing you ethical vendors a speedy transition to your new business models, whatever they may be, at prices that allow you to earn a living.