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Ralph Jennings

Not all newlyweds in China can afford a name-brand, natural diamond in today’s tough economy. But many no longer want one, anyway.
Prices for natural gems have fallen worldwide, tainting their store of value, while synthetic alternatives cost far less and glitter just as brightly.
“They don’t necessarily need something from Tiffany’s,” said Vivian Wu, a 40-year-old founder of the Shanghai-based diamond business Wei An Shang Mao.
Wu still completes about 10 diamond orders per week, as she has for years, but these days customers are often looking for a bargain. Newlyweds increasingly ask her to find smaller gems to fit their shrinking budgets or choose artificial ones that are sometimes just one-tenth the price of a natural stone.
Changes taking place in China are rapidly reshaping the global diamond market, as the country’s consumers pull back from splashing out on natural stones and its factories ramp up production of cheaper synthetic alternatives.
Wholesale diamond prices have fallen by about 40 per cent over the past two years, according to Bank of America Global Research. The Zimnisky Rough Diamond Price Index shows a particularly steep drop since an all-time high in 2022.
Hesitant buying in China has played a role in pulling prices down, said Paul Zimnisky, the index operator and a New York-based diamond consultant.
“To put it bluntly, diamond demand in China has fallen off a cliff over the last year,” he said. “The impact has poignantly been felt by the industry.”


Falling marriage rates and a soft overall economy have chilled China’s US$9 billion diamond market, which is second only to the United States, and the growing perception that diamonds have lost investment value has only added to this, said Rajiv Biswas, an independent Asia economist and the author of Asian Megatrends.
“The link between diamond sales and marriages is quite significant,” Biswas said. China’s number of marriages is widely expected to fall to under 6.6 million in 2024, less than half the figure recorded in 2013.
On the investment side, “diamonds are no longer seen as a store of value over time because the prices have come down over the years”, Biswas said.
A 50-year-old veteran diamond sourcing consultant in Hong Kong said he was seeing fewer and fewer clients due to the weak economy. “When it rains, everybody gets wet,” he said.
At the same time, China is pioneering the mass production of lab-grown diamonds that sell for a fraction of the cost of natural gemstones, analysts said.
Henan province in central China has become a “global production centre” for laboratory-made diamonds over the past decade, Chinese broadcaster CGTN reported in March. The region makes one in every two synthetic diamonds produced worldwide, it said.
Parts of Henan had already developed an industry for processing superhard materials, making the move into diamond production a natural next step. The first lab-made diamonds began reaching the global market about a decade ago, Zimnisky said.
Since then, their popularity has soared. Synthetic stones now account for 15 to 20 per cent of global diamond jewellery demand, compared to 1 per cent in 2015, Biswas said. The global synthetic diamond market was worth US$15.3 billion in 2023, according to ResearchAndMarkets data.
China was making about 95 per cent of the world’s synthetic diamonds as of mid-2023, the secretary-general of the Superhard Material Association of China told domestic media last year.


The Diabond store in Hong Kong’s Time Square shopping mall, which is frequented by mainland Chinese shoppers, primarily sells lab-made diamonds. The owner has found quality sources in India and the United States, the 4-year-old chain’s marketing manager Maisy Wong said.
Diabond displays a 1.3-carat natural diamond ring for HK$130,000 alongside a lab-grown 1.5-carat stone for HK$24,300.
Chinese customers still prefer natural diamonds for weddings, the Hong Kong consultant said. But lab-grown rivals may still have a glittering future in China.
“Throughout history, consumers have desired fine jewellery made with rare and precious materials,” Zimnisky said. “I believe the primary market for man-made diamonds will consist of more fun, fast-fashion oriented jewellery.”
Yu Jing, a 30-year-old construction sector worker living in Shanghai, bought a pair of earrings decorated with tiny lab-grown diamonds earlier this year.
“Honestly, I can’t tell if they’re real or just zirconia. They only cost me 300 yuan (about US$40), so I don’t mind,” she said. “My salary isn’t high, and I think lab-grown diamonds offer great value for money.”
Additional reporting by Mia Nulimaimaiti


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China’s demand for natural diamonds has ‘fallen off a cliff’ amid plunging marriage rates, while its factories are churning out synthetic alternatives that are up to 90 per cent cheaper


China’s demand for natural diamonds has ‘fallen off a cliff’ amid plunging marriage rates, while its factories are churning out synthetic alternatives that are up to 90 per cent cheaper.
