A little understanding goes a long way.
By Ellen Fruchtman, President
David Kellie’s recent exit interview with JCK is candid, thoughtful, and worth reading if you have not already seen it. You can read it here. He talks about internal industry challenges, fragmented priorities, and how marketing today moves at the speed of culture rather than traditional campaigns.
All true.
But there is one very large thing missing from the conversation, and it is the one thing couples talk about prior to making the purchase.
Price.
Hello. It’s reality.
According to The Knot’s 2025 Real Weddings Study, about 52 percent of engagement rings sold in the United States now feature lab-grown diamonds. That did not happen because couples suddenly stopped caring about romance or symbolism.
It happened because couples are facing some big challenges.
They’re struggling to buy their first home.
They are carrying student debt.
They are paying more for everyday life.
And they are questioning everything that might not feel financially smart.
So when a couple sees a visibly larger diamond for a fraction of the price, the decision is often not about tradition or their love for one another. It’s math.
Success and budget.
Kellie speaks confidently about the Natural Diamond Council's success during his tenure. To be fair, the NDC did have a significant budget at its peak. Natural diamonds were visible and well represented in social and editorial spaces.
But the timing matters.
Between 2019 and 2025, lab-grown diamonds did not simply gain awareness. They exploded in market share. In 2019, roughly one in eight engagement rings in the United States featured a lab-grown stone. By 2024 and 2025, that number crossed the 50 percent mark.
That growth happened during the same period the industry was investing heavily in marketing natural diamonds.
Which raises a fair question. If awareness and relevance were truly the main drivers, would lab-grown diamonds have grown this fast anyway? Or does that growth tell us something more basic, that consumer behavior was being driven less by messaging and more by value and price?
This conversation cannot happen without acknowledging something uncomfortable but real. Most young couples today are middle-class, not affluent. Middle-class buyers experience the diamond decision very differently than higher income couples.
A couple earning a significant income may choose lab-grown from preference.
A middle-class couple often chooses from necessity.
Add to that the reality facing today’s new college graduates. Many are entering one of the toughest job markets in years, with fewer entry-level roles, slower hiring, and more competition for fewer opportunities. Some are accepting jobs below their expectations just to get started. Others are delaying major financial decisions altogether.
That matters.
When early-career income is uncertain while rent, student loans, and everyday expenses are fixed, large discretionary purchases are approached far more cautiously. Engagement rings remain meaningful, but how much is spent and where value lies change dramatically.
This is one reason lab-grown diamonds resonate so strongly with middle-class buyers. They allow couples to participate fully in the tradition without feeling financially strapped.
Is it “Forever”?
De Beers recently revived the iconic advertising line "A Diamond Is Forever." For many generations, that phrase still resonates. After 48 years of marriage, it certainly does for me.
But younger buyers do not automatically connect to forever in the same way. Not because they don’t believe in love, but because they are realistic. Roughly four in ten first marriages in the United States end in divorce, and everyone knows it, even if no one says it out loud while ring shopping.
Today’s couples want meaning, but they also want choices that feel smart, flexible, and responsible.
That mindset is leading them to lab-grown diamonds.
It is also impossible to ignore that DeBeers introduced Lightbox, positioning lab-grown diamonds as real diamonds at accessible prices. While Lightbox was positioned as non-bridal, it is hard to believe anyone thought consumers would not adapt those stones.
Once the most powerful name in diamonds says this is okay, the category changes. And, boy, did it.
Natural Diamonds are not over.
This is not a straight line away from natural diamonds.
Retail behavior and search trends suggest that natural diamonds still perform strongly during emotionally significant buying moments, particularly holidays and milestone purchases. In those moments, buyers tend to think longer term, not just about the ring, but about what it represents. They are winning the conversation for a specific market segment. The new buzzword is “high value, high intent shoppers”.
Lab-grown often wins on price.
Natural still wins when the decision feels important.
That tells us something.
Natural diamonds have not lost relevance. They have become more intentional purchases.
At the counter.
Let us be very real about what happens in the store.
Most couples are not debating diamond philosophy. They are doing math in their heads. They are thinking about what they can afford and still feel good about, whether this decision will feel responsible a few years from now, and whether they are spending more than they need to just because it is expected.
They are often hesitant to say the word budget out loud, even though it is driving the decision.
When jewelers acknowledge that reality calmly and without judgment, trust immediately increases. Explaining the price difference, the trade-up option with natural diamonds, and the long-term ownership story in plain language helps couples make confident choices.
That is not selling.
That is understanding how people actually buy.
One practical point does land with consumers when explained plainly.
For natural diamonds, many traditional jewelers offer a trade-up path. You may not resell it for what you paid, and consumers understand that, but you can often apply its value toward a larger or different stone later in life.
With lab-grown diamonds, that path usually does not exist in any meaningful way.
That is not romantic.
But it is real value. Done right, it can make that buyer feel it is more responsible in the long term.
Moving the natural diamond needle.
It can be done. But it’s not about storytelling.
It’s not pretending that price does not matter.
And it’s definitely not trying to convince every buyer that they are wrong.
What can work is thoughtful curation from personalization, custom, and heirloom discussions; clear explanations of ownership over time, rather than discussing resale; and speaking to self-buyers as confidently as brides.
If you remember one thing from this very lengthy article, remember this: Lab-grown diamonds did not win because consumers stopped caring. They won because consumers became more practical, more informed, and more price aware, especially in a middle-class economy facing real financial pressure.
Natural diamonds have not disappeared. They have moved into a more deliberate lane. The retailers and brands that acknowledge reality, speak plainly, and respect how people actually buy today are the ones who will keep natural diamonds relevant.
Not by fighting the market.
But by understanding it.
We’d love to continue the chat. Contact us.
