Diamond prices dip globally with consumers choosing services over jewellery

According to the Zimnisky Global Rough Diamond Index, prices are the lowest they’ve been in a year. Industry analysts attribute the slump to declining sales at the jewellery counter, CNN reported.

Prices for rough diamonds -- the raw, unpolished, and uncut stones -- have dipped in 2023 as many post-pandemic consumers are shying away from luxury goods, the media reported.

According to the Zimnisky Global Rough Diamond Index, prices are the lowest they’ve been in a year. Industry analysts attribute the slump to declining sales at the jewellery counter, CNN reported.

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As consumers spent less money on dining and travel during the pandemic, “people had excess money to spend on discretionary purchases", noted Paul Zimnisky, a global diamond analys.

Diamond prices have adjusted to consumers choosing services over jewellery.

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People are eating out, traveling and spending money on experiences rather than luxury goods, according to analysts.

“Diamonds are a completely consumer-driven market,” CNN quoted Edahn Golan, an independent diamond analyst, as saying.

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Shopper demand for diamond jewellery influences rough diamond prices and, to an extent, retail prices.

Retailers stoke consumer demand by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into advertising.

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The plummeting prices follow two record-breaking years in rough diamond sales.

In 2021 and 2022, demand for natural diamond jewellery was at an all-time high, CNN reported.

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“There was a parabolic move up, and now there’s a correction on the other side,” Zimnisky noted.

Industry analysts expect to see a jump in retail sales during the winter holidays and into early 2024.

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The winter months are peak engagement season, and Christmas and Valentine’s Day are typically lucrative holidays for jewellery companies.

While this might lead to a small spike in rough diamond prices, “overall, we’re going to see a year-over-year decline of sales in the holiday season”, predicts David Johnson, a spokesperson for De Beers, one of the largest diamond companies in the world.

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