The diamond industry promised them happy with the jewels cultivated in the laboratory. Until prices sank

Few things better symbolize luxury than a good diamond. They shine in the shop windows of the most exclusive miles in Paris, Milan or New York, in Hands of Hollywood actresses and in The watches of the most sought -after soccer players on the planet. However, they do not run good times for precious stones. Not at least if we talk about your price. A perfect storm in which intrinsic factors are mixed and alien to the sector has shame its price until it is left, according to Some analystsin minimums that were not seen so far from the century.

The big question is … What can we expect now?

Prices, falling. It doesn’t matter which source is consulted. They do not run Good times For diamonds. The maximum expression of luxury, the great symbol of opulence, has been seeing how its value slides through a slope that moves it away from the dimensions that reached between 2021 and 2022, when the sector lived a “Exceptional demand” in the US market thanks to couples who had postponed their commitments or weddings for COVID-19.

A few days ago Barcharta financial data platform, shared A graph which reflects the descending curve that precious stones have drawn from 2022 to place in what the signature considers “its lowest level of the century.” He Price index Paul Zimnisky for raw diamonds also show a “puncture” from the pandemic, although without even minimal record. And the panorama is similar in the graphics of Diamondse either Princescopewhich reflect the lowest values ​​from at least 2008 for natural jemas.

What show the figures? That if we talk about quotes, the diamond industry has lived better years. In February Bloomberg calculated that in a matter of two years prices had fallen almost 50% in the case of raw diamonds and 35% in polished stones. More or less for the same dates The Guardian revealed that in stores natural diamonds cost 26% less than two years ago, a considerable fall but that pales compared to the accumulated since 2020 by the created in the laboratory.

Citing A Tenoris, a firm that tracks the prices of diamonds in more than 2,000 US stores, the British newspaper I pointed that at the end of last year the average price of a natural diamond of a quilate marked $ 4,997. In May 2022 it exceeded 6,800 pounds. In the case of “artificial” diamonds, $ 3.410 had passed in January from 2020 to 892 at the end of 2024. In their graphics Pricescope and Diamondse They also show falls.

A perfect storm. The big question arrived at this point is … why? What motivates that price drop? The reality is that there is no single answer, but a cocktail of them, a mixture of factors that have impacted the market. Analysts point to a Change in demand After the health crisis, when prices rose thanks to the increase in postpandemic sales. Others point out the “puncture” of weddings, especially in the US, which is equivalent to less alliances and commitment rings; or even The effects of the Ukraine War in the sector.

Another factor that explains the collapse is the behavior of the Chinese market, crucial for the industry. In February Bloomberg estimated that its demand had been reduced by 50% from the pandemia. And not just that. Citing experts in the sector, the agency said that, on average, the retailers of the Asian giant were returning to the wholesale market of India between 30 and 40 million dollars each month in surpluses of polished diamonds. All this in an economic context challenging For Beijing.

Natural vs “artificial”. If something has really influenced the world diamond industry, beyond that we get married more or less, the covid hangover or the fall in demand in China, is the appearance of a new product in the market: the “synthetic” diamondscultivated in the laboratory and that have marked a before and after in the sector. Instead of requiring Millions of years of formation, as is the case with the mined natural jemas, a “synthetic” stone can take shape in a laboratory in a record time: a few weeks or Even hours.

“Synthetic” diamonds are not exactly new. Its origins can go back to the 50s. However, in recent times they have broken into the market for several reasons. One of them is that their origins are easier to track than those of the mined jemas, which has gone “More ethical”especially in the eyes of the Millenials. Also influence its appearance and price, which becomes 70% lower to the natural stones.

“They are much bigger stones,” Comment a jeweler to The Guardian. “About two or three more times. In laboratory, three carats is normal, even four or five.” Its attractiveness has caught attention Even of jewelry brands and watches specialized in luxury, in some cases with welcome in the market that exceed expectations. Of course, not everyone thinks the same. “They are synthetic, a bulk created product, without history. The price will continue to fall,” Vaticin Another jeweler.

Winning weight in the market. In 2023 Five days public A graph (supporting tenoris data and the billing of 1,300 retailers of the sector) that demonstrate the growing weight of the diamonds grown in a key segment of the market: that of the US commitment rings. If at the beginning of 2021 they represented only 3.5%, in the summer of 2023 that percentage was already approaching 18%. In February The Guardian He went further and assured that synthetic diamonds already supposed 45% of the bridal jewelry market.

The problem is that this growing weight has come accompanied by another word that analysts also frequently repeat: Overproduction. The analyst Paul Zimnisky was warned in March in An interview with The New York Times: “We are seeing that a small group of very large producers in China and India are increasing production with faster and better processes, and every time they do the unit cost it becomes lower.” According to their calculations, between January 2015 and 2025 the cultivated diamonds were reduced by 85%.

5,000 to 900 dollars. “Today you can get a beautiful diamond cultivated in an ideal round laboratory and a killie details. The impact of “synthetic” stones, added to the rest of the factors, has been so pronounced that it has hit some heavyweights of the industry.

The Beers giant, leading company of the sector, started 2024 with a reserve of diamonds of 2,000 million of dollars that he had failed to sell, which led him to considerably reduce the production of his mines. And it is not the only one to suffer the consequences of changes in the market. Bloomberg also speaks of Factories in India who have been forced to close or put on sale. “There is no clear solution at this time”, summarizes an analyst of the RBC Capital Markets firm. “The market needs to emphasize.”

Images | Dillon Wanner (UNSPLASH)

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