A natural diamond was once the pursuit of many people's “favorite”, and the expensive price also let many people shy away. But in the past two years, the price of natural diamonds continue to lose ground. It is understood that from the beginning of 2022 to the present, the cumulative decline in the price of rough diamonds cultivated up to 85%. On the sales side, 1-carat cultivated diamonds have fallen by more than 80% cumulatively compared to the high point.
The world's largest supplier of natural diamonds - De Beers on December 3, EST will be sold on the secondary market rough diamond prices down 10% to 15%.
Some analysts have pointed out that De Beers usually regards large price cuts as a “last resort” to cope with market changes. The company's multiple price cuts have shown its urgency in the face of market woes. This also shows that, as the industry giant, De Beers facing downward pressure on the market failed to effectively support the price of diamonds.
According to the 2023 results released by De Beers, the group's total revenue fell 34.84% from $6.6 billion in 2022 to $4.3 billion, while rough diamond sales fell 40% from $6 billion in 2022 to $3.6 billion.
As for the reasons behind the recent dive in diamond prices, industry insiders believe that a slowing economy, a shift in consumer preference from diamonds to gold jewelry, and a decrease in the number of weddings have compressed demand for diamonds. In addition, the CEO of De Beers also mentioned that the macroeconomic situation has changed and consumers are gradually shifting from commodity consumption to service-oriented consumption, so the demand for luxury-type consumption, such as diamonds, has dropped sharply.
It was also analyzed that the plummeting price of rough diamonds and the decline in market demand, especially the popularity of artificially cultivated diamonds has reduced consumer demand for natural diamonds. Technological advances have enabled man-made diamonds to approach the quality of natural diamonds but at a lower price, attracting more consumers, especially in daily jewelry consumption, and capturing the market share of natural diamonds.
As technology continues to advance, production techniques for cultivated diamonds are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Currently, the main methods of producing cultivated diamonds are high temperature and high pressure method (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Both methods are able to successfully produce high-quality diamonds in the laboratory, and the production efficiency is constantly improving. At the same time, the quality of cultivated diamonds is also improving, and is comparable to natural diamonds in terms of color, clarity and cut.
Currently, the number of cultivated diamonds consumed has already rivaled that of natural diamonds. The latest report of Tenoris, a U.S. market research institute, pointed out that the retail sales of finished jewelry in the U.S. increased by 9.9% in October 2024,...
of which natural diamond jewelry rose slightly, up 4.7%; while cultivated diamonds reached a 46% increase.
According to Germany's Statista data platform, sales of cultured diamonds will reach about $18 billion in the global jewelry market in 2024, accounting for more than 20% of the overall jewelry market.
Public data shows that China's diamond monocrystal production accounts for about 95% of the global total production, ranking first in the world. In the field of cultivated diamonds, China's production capacity accounts for about 50% of the total global cultivated diamond production capacity.
According to data analysis by consulting firm Bain, China's rough cultivated diamond sales in 2021 will be 1.4 million carats, with a cultivated diamond market penetration rate of 6.7%, and it is expected that China's rough cultivated diamond sales will reach 4 million carats by 2025, with a cultivated diamond penetration rate of 13.8%. Analysts pointed out that with technological progress and market recognition, the cultivated diamond industry is ushering in a period of rapid growth.
Post time: Dec-09-2024