(PRESS RELEASE) EVANSTON, IL — Jewelry and watch insurer BriteCo has just released a new research report that helps explain how lab-grown diamonds are driving the market for engagement rings compared to natural, earth-mined diamonds. The report emphasizes a significant diamond market shift due to the explosion of lab-grown diamond sales, with lab-grown diamonds accounting for nearly half of US engagement ring purchases by 2024.
Entitled, “The Lab-Grown vs Natural Diamond Revolution: New Data Reveals Consumer Insights, Trends and Predictions,” the report identifies several key takeaways based on hundreds of thousands of proprietary appraisal and insurance data points from BriteCo over the past five years.
- Lab-grown diamonds accounted for over 45% of US engagement ring purchases by 2024, according to BriteCo data.
- By 2025, the BriteCo report says a 1-carat lab-grown diamond averaged $1,000 or less at retail, compared to around $4,200 for a natural 1-carat diamond.
- BriteCo data indicates consumers are using the savings from lower lab-grown diamond prices to buy larger and higher-quality diamond engagement rings.
- Millennials and Gen Z are driving the adoption of lab-grown diamonds, with two-thirds of Gen Z engagement ring purchasers choosing lab-grown diamonds
“This report clearly reveals how the retail jewelry industry is bifurcating,” according to BriteCo CEO Dustin Lemick. “We are seeing that lab-grown diamonds are becoming an accessible, everyday luxury, while natural diamonds are repositioning as exclusive symbols of enduring value.”
Lemick noted that the report also describes a number of potential future diamond market scenarios:
- Lab-grown diamond brand differentiation may blur, making it more of a commodity as natural diamond producers accelerate marketing efforts to justify higher values than lab-grown diamonds.
- Because of affordability and quality, lab-grown diamonds could also emerge as a new class of everyday wear jewelry.
- There will likely be a rise in demand for fancy colored lab-grown diamonds due to their lower cost and customizable production capabilities.
The 18-page report is available online, free of charge, at https://brite.co/the-lab-grown-vs-natural-diamond-report/
Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson
When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren.
For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish.
"Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful."
The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing."
Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."
