DPC ·
The investment pitch is getting harder to make
Steve Randall, writing in InvestmentNews on September 28:
“The traditional pitch that natural diamonds retain value and appreciate over time, now requires significant qualification.”
That is a gentle way of putting it. InvestmentNews reports that average one-carat natural-diamond prices fell roughly 51% between September 2021 and September 2026, citing Rapaport. A market average cannot tell someone what their particular diamond is worth, but it should give anyone selling diamonds as a long term investment something to explain.
There are perfectly understandable reasons to want a mined diamond. Someone may love a particular stone or find its geological history compelling. The trouble starts when that preference becomes a financial promise. If future resale value is part of the pitch, buyers deserve to hear what a jeweler would actually pay to buy the diamond back, and under what conditions. Stories about exceptional stones at auction do very little to answer that question for typical consumers.
We should be just as straightforward about laboratory-grown diamonds. The case for buying one rests on what you get for your money: a diamond you love, at a price that makes sense to you. We don’t need to promise that it will appreciate to make that case. Most people buying an engagement ring already have a much better reason for wanting it.