A Year-On-Year View Of Lab-Grown Diamond Demand
With the start of 2024, many companies and big names in the industry are taking a look back at the previous year to point out the particular trends and calculate the results. When it comes to the jewelry market, the trend is apparent: lab-grown diamonds.
Analysts witnessed the revenue increase due to the high demand for LGD jewelry. Such giants as Pandora reported that the fourth quarter sales surpassed all their expectations with a 9% rise and $1.58 billion in revenue. Overall annual sales of their lab-grown diamond collections jumped 83% this year. Jewelry with man-made stones were strong throughout the year, and especially strong during holiday season on both US and European markets.
Following Pandora’s footsteps, a lot of mass-market retailers, such as Walmart and JCPenney, went big on introducing and promoting their lab-created gem jewelry in 2023 and also saw huge demand during the holidays. They will most likely continue to benefit from this decision this year.
Both western (the USA, the UK, Germany) and Eastern (China and Japan) markets showed particular growth. However, it’s the Arabic countries that became one of the most exciting areas for the LGDs. Not only the sales surged, but it is also who purchased the lab-grown diamonds that was most surprising. According to one of the leading jewelry brands in Dubai, most of their customers for high-end lab-grown diamond jewelry are wealthy and famous. That includes influencers, football players, and celebrities. Some consumers spent as much as $500,000 in 2023 on jewelry with lab-created stones, consciously choosing them over mined diamonds. While middle class Gen-Z is considered the target audience for LGDs, it now seems that the man-made diamond jewelry may transcend this demographic and be the choice of anybody.
If anything became crystal clear last year it is that lab-created diamonds will have their place in the jewelry industry. And it won’t change. According to the chairman of Indian Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, buying lab-grown gems will influence first-time jewelry shoppers to go after mined stones in the future, and vice versa. Both products will continue to coexist and be demanded, which will move the whole industry further. If anything, 2024 is certainly capable of proving this theory.
