The domestic diamond market has been declining since 2022, with natural diamond prices and the inlay market declining by over 50%. Even after the end of the epidemic, retail terminal sales have not been as expected. According to research, diamond jewelry is mainly used for weddings, love gifts, etc., accounting for more than half of the total sales. With the rise of the Internet and the explosion of information technology, people have become less obsessed with diamonds, and even in the eyes of the younger generation, diamonds are not a necessary symbol of love and marriage.
There are four main factors contributing to the decline in natural diamond sales:
The "brainwashing" love symbol is losing efficacy
Diamonds are eternal and far away, and one will always be passed down. It is estimated that many people have been brainwashed by this sentence, especially those born before the 1980s. In any beautiful love story, diamonds are usually an essential part, and the definition of love in the story is "diamonds are equal to love".
Diamonds used to have a fixed origin and scarce production in the past. After being discovered, for a long time, they were only jewelry for the royal and noble to show off their wealth, such as the diamond crown of the Queen of England, which was a symbol of status and status. However, in the 19th century, a diamond mine with a production capacity of tens of millions of carats emerged in South Africa, leaving investors at a loss for a while. At this moment, the famous De Beers company gritted its teeth and bought the entire diamond mine, and since then, it has been controlling the export quantity of diamonds and monopolizing the entire diamond supply market. In order for customers to stop selling diamonds after buying them, they came up with a marketing plan that tightly combines love and diamonds: "Diamond=Love".
In marriage and love, men believe that buying larger and more beautiful diamond rings is necessary to express their strong love, and in women's eyes, diamonds are necessary for courtship. Therefore, once a diamond is sold, it will not be sold to others because it is endowed with the soul of love.
But with the passage of time, the marketing plan of "love" seems to be no longer recognized.
Cultivate a strong rise of diamonds and occupy a large market share
The main reason why natural diamonds are expensive is not only because they are labeled as "love", but also because they are scarce. But now the emergence of cultivated diamonds has filled the gap of natural diamond scarcity, truly achieving "carat freedom".
Cultivating diamonds was born in the last century. In 2003, a breakthrough was made in technology, and the laboratory cultivated "jewelry grade" diamonds. Cultivating diamonds then entered the field of jewelry. In 2015, the cultivation of diamond technology took it to the next level, with the mass production of large carats of diamonds starting to seize the market share of natural diamonds. In 2022, the global production of cultivated diamonds was 20 million carats, while the production of cultivated diamonds in China was approximately 9 million carats, accounting for almost half of the world.
The emergence of cultivated diamonds has a significant impact on natural diamonds, especially in terms of price. Cultivated diamonds are only 3 to 5% off of natural diamonds. In the same level, a natural diamond that needs to be purchased for 20000 yuan may only cost 8-10K to obtain a cultivated diamond of the same weight. Many people question whether cultivating diamonds is a real diamond? In fact, both cultivated diamonds and natural diamonds use the same 4C grading standards, namely the "4C" standard pioneered by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the International Diamond Grading System, which authenticate diamonds from four dimensions: color, clarity, cut, and carat weight. Secondly, cultivating diamonds can be mass-produced. Natural diamonds are a rare mineral resource that has been extensively mined since the last century, resulting in a scarcity of resources. The technological breakthrough in cultivating diamonds can achieve mass production. As production increases, prices will naturally fall, which in turn will drive the price of natural diamonds down.
Natural diamonds need to be repositioned
In the past, natural diamonds were tightly tied to "love", but now the consumer group in the market has changed, with the post-90s and post-2000s becoming the mainstream consumer group. This group of people is more assertive and very clear about love. Under the impact of the internet and reality, they gradually become "not fond of marriage". In 2013, 13.47 million couples registered for marriage, but by 2021, only 7.63 million couples remained, and the data for 2022 reached a new low.
The consumer market for diamonds is concentrated in wedding celebrations, and the marriage rate continues to decline. The scenes of proposing marriage and courtship are decreasing, and the bond between diamonds and love is gradually becoming invalid. Therefore, the formula of "diamond=love" is currently difficult to recognize and cannot move consumers' hearts. To break the existing situation, natural diamonds need to reposition themselves. Cultivating diamonds has already been labeled as' pleasing oneself '. With the increasing economic level of young people, their partners and marriage are not very attractive to them.' pleasing oneself 'is what they are pursuing now. Cultivate the price advantage of diamonds and occupy an increasingly large market in the field of "Yue Ji".
Diamond recycling has price fluctuations
Diamonds, like gold, can be recycled, but there may be price fluctuations. The price of diamond recycling is influenced by various factors, such as diamond size, purity, glossiness, and brand effect. But diamond recycling is different from gold. The price of diamond recycling depends on the grade of the diamond. Due to the immature domestic diamond ring recycling market, it can cause significant price fluctuations.