The diamond industry was a prize winner. Diamond folk have guts but they have lost the glory. The JCK show proved that they lost of confidence in diamonds.
Diamond Industry - Page 3 of 7
The economy of the diamond industry untangled. Thorough analysis, granular data, and background on the diamond market. All this put in context with clarity.
What is the Diamond Industry?
In some ways, it is an industry just like any other despite the aura of an industry shrouded in mystery. It needs to satisfy consumer demand, promote the retail category, address technical problems, and secure financing to operate and grow.
It is also a unique one. It faces very certain expectations from consumers and governments alike. The modern diamond business is highly skilled and involves heavy use of technology and innovation. And yet, it is very traditional, relying heavily on a backbone of family structure, and it is highly fragmented compared to other industries.
Why is There a Diamond Industry?
It is human nature to desire to be decorated. Jewelry arose as a way to look better, to make a statement about who you are culturally, to declare your financial status, and to reveal your marital standing. Diamonds have been part of this storytelling for hundreds of years.
Ever since they were first dug along riverbanks in India and Brazil, the yearning for diamonds has grown to the point that a sophisticated value chain be developed to satisfy this demand. Although the iconic ”a diamond is forever” marketing campaign is no longer running, desire for diamonds remain high. Most people, of practically all ages and of nearly all cultures, still covet diamond jewelry. And most buy it too.
What Are the Components of the Diamond Industry?
The diamond industry includes:
- Exploration
- Mining
- Rough diamond sales
- Diamond polishing
- Polished diamond wholesaling
- Jewelry making
- Retailing
- Consumer demand
For a deeper look into this topic, please see below:
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This is How Much Americans Spend on Jewelry and Watches
How much does the average US household spend on jewelry and watches per year? Does this spending differ by age group and, if so, by how much?
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Inventories Up, Demand Down and Lab-Grown Prices Continue to Drop
The diamond industry is out of balance. The rough diamonds produced at mines only partially fit current consumer demand. This may explain why price movement is restrained. Meanwhile, among lab-grown goods, matters are a little more lively. Although prices of smaller lab-grown goods have been mostly stable, the prices of larger goods sank in the first quarter of 2019. A …
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LGD Prices – Not What You Might Expect
After a very long period of slow development and use, we are now at the stage where a walloping leap occurs as market adoption of lab-grown takes place. After an initial 30-40% drop in wholesale prices, prices of LG goods below 1-ct keeps falling, while larger goods are steady. Oh, and there is a LGDs transaction price list!
Although Sliding, Jewelry Retail Prices Remain High
After reaching a historic record high in 2017, consumer prices of fine jewelry have softened so far in 2018. However, jewelry retail prices are still high, which may explain a number of consumer trends. Are these prices fueling demand for lab-grown? We know that the US market is very price sensitive, and that dictates polished diamond prices, as well as …
The US Jewelry Market Is Much Smaller Than You Think
A back-of-the-envelope calculation of the US jewelry market shows that the official figures are too high. New figures are closer to the real market size.
Lightbox: Disrupting the Disruptors and Evolving
De Beers announced the launch of a lab-grown (LG) diamond jewelry line. Yes, it’s late in May, not April 1, but this is no joke. In September, it will launch Lightbox, a line of jewelry priced between $300-$1,000. They are fighting the LG producers by using an age-old Silicon Valley approach – disruption. They are disrupting the disrupters. The strategy …
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Baselworld 2018 and the Marginalization of Diamonds
Many years ago, a De Beers director quietly admitted to me that even if all the marketing efforts were working well and diamond sales were on the rise, the diamond industry would still not catch up with the luxury market and would continue to lose market share to it. If Baselworld is telling the industry anything, it is that the …
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Rough Diamonds’ Loopy Ride
Two opposing trends arise from the steady series of diamond miners’ annual reports that have come out over the past few days: while rough diamond production increased, rough diamonds’ average price per carat decreased in 2017. With few exceptions, this resulted in a rise in sales volumes, and a decline in rough diamond sales revenue. There are many reasons for …
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Marketing, Sure – But of What Kind?
If there is anything that the diamond industry is famous for, it is its marketing. Turning a rare and out-of-reach product into an attainable household desire was a brilliant success, and the marketing slogan “A diamond is forever” is one of the best ever penned. Yet today, the diamond industry is suffering from dismal marketing that has toppled all the …
