For today's (American) consumers, 'buying larger diamonds' has become a very important mindset. Regardless of budget constraints, "consumers are really excited to be able to buy larger diamonds" (Joy Thorlot, a jewelry retailer from Colorado). Thorlot stated that the average weight of cultivated diamonds purchased by consumers now ranges from 2 to 2.5 carats, and has been increasing since the beginning of this year.
More importantly, "fewer and fewer people are thinking about resale, especially young couples
Michael Littman, a retailer in New Jersey, believes that even consumers who are not cultivating diamond benchmark customers will ask about such products. Currently, about half of the bare stones sold in Littman's store for wedding celebrations (based on the number of particles) are cultivated diamonds - and he has not deliberately promoted the cultivation of diamonds.
Erik Runyan, another retailer based in Washington State, stated that among the accessory products they sell (including earrings, pendants, etc.), the sales of cultivated diamonds account for approximately 80%. As for wedding jewelry, the sales of cultivated diamonds and natural diamonds are generally around 50%.
2. Retailers favor consignment mode
Joyce wrote in the article that retailers' attitude towards nurturing diamonds is different from their attitude towards natural diamonds, and they generally tend to adopt a consignment model of "purchasing" nurturing diamonds. The aforementioned retailer Tollot stated that when products such as nurturing diamonds first entered the market, her original supplier was "ready for consignment".
I did buy some cultivated diamonds as inventory before, but later I realized that I was purchasing products with unclear value. If my retail price was lower than my purchase price, it would be a worrying thing
However, Tollot believes that there will also be an exception to his philosophy, which is the Lightbox brand. Their prices are very low, but more importantly, Lightbox is a brand that promotes in the market
For another interviewee, Littman, "almost 99% of cultivated diamonds are purchased through consignment mode," which is the approach he followed from the beginning.
We did not invest in inventory because we can still obtain goods that meet the requirements through consignment
3. Value issues
Retailers can indeed protect their interests through consignment sales, but from another perspective, if consumers always expect lower prices, then retailers will find it difficult to compete with their peers - of course, this is about bare stones.
After some 'well-known websites' have disclosed the prices of bare stones, the only thing I can do is to reach an agreement with the supplier to use the latest market price as the transaction price between us, because it is lower than the price at the beginning of the consignment cooperation
The retailer Runyan mentioned above believes that he will be very honest with consumers and understand that he can only trade at the "current price".
However, Littman's opinion may differ. He is optimistic that as demand continues to rise, the price of cultivated diamonds will remain relatively stable - even if the supply continues to rise. As for whether this viewpoint can be widely recognized, it may be a matter of opinion.