Are diamonds just done?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:fake diamonds (lab and cz) are identified as such real diamonds are forever

So are lab diamonds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My engagement diamond has big visible inclusions because my DH didn’t notice, so I figure now they’re special marks of earth.

And hopefully not human suffering, I guess?

OMG
Mine too
I figured I was the only one with an unobservant DH.

Lol yeah and I am not going to be the one to tell him.

I have no idea if he got a bad price or if they didn’t point them out to him but I’m pretty sure he didn’t/doesn’t know. It’s clearly visible to the naked eye. I don’t care and I’ll just take it to the grave, lol.

Me too. I'll never tell. He was a poor student then an I think the jeweler ripped him off, but he moonlighted at the post office to pay for it, so it's more valuable to me than the stone is worth.

Replace the stone with a lab diamond.

Maybe someday, but it's just not a priority to me right now. I hardly think about it except that the PP hilariously seemed to have the same scenario

[Anonymous]

Yes. They are done as an investment. I continue to buy 22K gold or 99.9 silver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. They are done as an investment. I continue to buy 22K gold or 99.9 silver.

22k gold is soft. Do you actually wear it or just keep it in bricks??

[Anonymous]

Really interesting article about the difference.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/lab-grown-diamond-prices-engagement-rings-carat-value-outlook-jewelry-2024-2

Basically, labs are worthless and the prices are down 90%. Jewelers claim that couples are coming in 3 to 5 years after they bought lab to get a smaller natural diamond.

[Anonymous]

Not done but with lab diamonds and moissanite, mined diamonds are no longer worth the marked up expense. The alternatives are just as sparkly, and guilt free, while the technology is getting better and better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. They are done as an investment. I continue to buy 22K gold or 99.9 silver.

22k gold is soft. Do you actually wear it or just keep it in bricks??

My engagement ring is 22k gold. I rarely take it off except for when I’m cooking or at the gym.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really interesting article about the difference.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/lab-grown-diamond-prices-engagement-rings-carat-value-outlook-jewelry-2024-2

Basically, labs are worthless and the prices are down 90%. Jewelers claim that couples are coming in 3 to 5 years after they bought lab to get a smaller natural diamond.

No.

Fierce Competition From Lab-Grown Diamonds Has Been Making Natural Ones Cheaper
Natural diamond prices have dropped about 8% in the past five years, as more and more love-struck singles popped the question with bigger, cheaper, lab-grown rocks. In the US alone, mined diamond jewelry sales tumbled 0.7% in November from the year before, while lab-grown ones climbed 12.5%. The competition has become so fierce that De Beers – the biggest name in diamonds – recently cut the price of its rough stones by 15%. That’s not a move made lightly: the world’s biggest miner has long used scarcity to keep prices high and rising. But that’s become less effective now that folk can simply buy lab-grown versions instead.

…
Falling demand has chipped away at the price of mined stones, and manufacturing improvements have brought lab-grown prices down too – by 75% since 2020, in fact. And that’s put a lot more bling within reach.

https://finimize.com/content/stone-cold-disruption

Diamond prices are tumbling as both natural and lab-grown varieties lose their sparkle with customers worldwide
The price of both natural and lab-grown diamonds has tumbled in the past two years, according to a report, as marriage proposals slowed and inflation increased.
Diamonds might still be out of many people’s price range, but they’re not quite so far out of reach these days.

Over the past two years, the price of natural diamonds has fallen by 26%. Lab-grown diamonds, meanwhile, are down 74% compared to their prices in 2020, according to a report in the Guardian.

The news comes as diamond giant De Beers recently reported it started 2024 with a stockpile of $2 billion in diamonds and was unable to whittle that down much as the year went on. Demand has been on the decline for a number of years due to inflation, a slowdown in the luxury sector, fewer marriage proposals in a post-COVID world, and an increased interest by Generation Z in lab-grown diamonds.

Demand in China has also ebbed.

De Beers sales in the first half of last year were down 20% compared to the year prior.

https://fortune.com/2025/01/27/diamond-prices-fall-natural-lab-grown/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really interesting article about the difference.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/lab-grown-diamond-prices-engagement-rings-carat-value-outlook-jewelry-2024-2

Basically, labs are worthless and the prices are down 90%. Jewelers claim that couples are coming in 3 to 5 years after they bought lab to get a smaller natural diamond.

Oh wow that’s so weird that a jeweler would claim something like that, it must definitely be true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really interesting article about the difference.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/lab-grown-diamond-prices-engagement-rings-carat-value-outlook-jewelry-2024-2

Basically, labs are worthless and the prices are down 90%. Jewelers claim that couples are coming in 3 to 5 years after they bought lab to get a smaller natural diamond.

Wow I can not find anyone saying natural diamonds will recover. Certainly no trend about couples buying natural diamonds over labs.

Today, as the supply chain normalizes—and the traditional three-year cycle of engagement to marriage reemerges—prices are collapsing as a result of several recent trends. First and foremost, the massive success of lab-grown diamonds (LGDs) has reduced prices for natural stones well beyond what the mining industry had expected, driven largely by consumers who want more affordable options. Second, in the context of rising environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns, consumers are looking for improved sourcing traceability for their gems. And third, industry players are navigating sanctions against products from Russia, a major rough-diamond producer.

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/metals-and-mining/our-insights/the-diamond-industry-is-at-an-inflection-point

If anything natural diamond prices are falling fast and hard with no recovery in the future. In anything it gives more reasons to stay away from natural diamonds. That natural diamond you bought a few years can be bought now for a lot less from De Beers.

[Anonymous]

its like comparing a real rolex to a fake one

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The diamond market is collapsing and will continue to do so. It is hard for those who spent $$$ on mined diamonds or work in that area. They are trying to make it seem like lab created diamonds aren’t an exact substitute but we all know they are.

I think this is the case. I get that people don’t want to lose diamonds as a status symbol because they paid a lot and it is wrapped up in sentimental value but they just aren’t anymore.

They are still beautiful and can represent something special but, when they are cheap to buy, a big one doesn’t mean what it used to.

I do think it might take a few years for everyone to get the memo, though. I think labs are more understood by young people getting engaged and big fans of jewelry.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on your age. I'm 55. I've never considered diamonds as investments. I would never buy a lab diamond.

I think it's great that the price of natural diamonds is going down because I want a new pair of studs.

BTW, where are they cheaper? I can't find them cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Most diamonds don’t hold value unless they’re rare and antique obviously, like a different cut, or very large and colored, or signed, like Cartier or Tiffany. But labs are basically worthless and I personally wouldn’t want one as an engagement ring. I got studs and a necklace lab. Also, people should know this: small diamonds like under a carat are not usually Gia reviewed and if you’re getting such a size you should definitely get lab.
Absolutely no difference. For me;
I wanted my engagement ring to mean something to me that felt valuable so I got a signed Cartier antique.

[Anonymous]

Anything you can trade for food or passage, especially small and easily hidden, will increase greatly in value