japanese media: the popularity of lab-grown diamonds is reshaping the market structure
2024-10-05
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reference news network reported on october 5according to a report by nihon keizai shimbun on october 4, the global diamond market is changing. the price of natural diamonds has fallen, and the price of 1-carat natural diamond products has dropped by more than 20% in the past year. behind this is the rapid popularity of synthetic lab-grown diamonds, which cannibalize the market share of natural diamonds.
“half of the market demand for natural diamonds will be captured by lab-grown diamonds,” the well-known diamond data service provider rappaport group warned in a report released on the 2nd. the report predicts that by 2024, the proportion of lab-grown diamonds in the wedding ring market will exceed 50%.
the rapaport group said that in august this year, the rapnet diamond index for commercial 1-carat natural diamonds fell by 1.1% month-on-month, and has fallen by 18.3% since 2024, a drop of more than 20% from the same period last year. the rapnet diamond index is an important pricing reference index for global jewelry buyers.
reports say that behind this is the rise of lab-grown diamonds. lab-grown diamonds are synthesized in factories from raw materials such as graphite powder. they have the same chemical composition, crystal structure, physical and optical properties as natural diamonds, and are indistinguishable in appearance. lab-grown diamonds are mostly produced in developing countries and are generally 30% to 90% cheaper than natural diamonds.
the german statista data platform predicts that in the global jewelry market, sales of lab-grown diamonds will reach approximately us$18 billion in 2024, accounting for more than 20%. there are also industry reports that among the loose diamond categories in the u.s. jewelry market, lab-grown diamonds accounted for only 15% of the market share in 2020 based on sales volume, but expanded by more than 50% in 2023.
the report pointed out that the production of lab-grown diamonds does not have the same social problems faced by natural diamond mining. therefore, among consumer groups who pay attention to esg (environmental, social and corporate governance) concepts, lab-grown diamonds are becoming more and more popular.
italian fashion luxury brand prada will release its first jewelry product using lab-grown diamonds in the fall of 2023. louis vuitton's brand "fidel" will also launch jewelry using both natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds in 2023. danish jewelry giant pandora’s lab-grown diamond business profit increased by 90% year-on-year in the first half of 2024.
however, the most important thing about jewelry is scarcity, which only natural diamonds have. therefore, some people in the industry believe that the popularity of lab-grown diamonds will decline, and consumers may return to natural diamonds starting in 2025.
global diamond industry giant de beers diamonds has announced it will cease production of lab-grown diamonds for jewelry use. the company said that the plummeting price of lab-grown diamonds has led to a deterioration in profit margins and that it will focus on selling natural diamonds and manufacturing artificial diamonds for industrial use in the future.
de beers is also working with indian jewelry giants to try to expand demand for natural diamonds. some japanese industry insiders predict that lab-grown diamonds may also serve as raw materials for cheap fashion jewelry in the future. (compiled/shen honghui)
