Are old traditions losing their sparkle?
A spate of articles this month touted a new trend for millennials buying engagement rings.
They’re going for color.
Refinery 29 explains that couples “are increasingly choosing colorful stones such as rubies, emeralds, and sapphires” when they get engaged.
The Telegraph, also reporting on the trend, states that diamonds are “losing their sparkle” among millennials. Allianz, an insurance company, has found that millennials spend an average of 573 pounds, or $711, on an engagement stone. Many couples prefer to spend their money on education, housing or travel, according to the Telegraph.
Colored gems are often seen as being more distinctive compared to traditional diamonds, the newspaper reports.
They’re also perceived as being cheaper, though that doesn’t always hold true. Prices for colored gemstones “have absolutely skyrocketed in recent years,” said John Benjamin, an expert in antique jewelry, according to the Guardian.
“In auction, we’re seeing prices that we never saw before, it is a very different sort of marketplace from the old days when coloured stones could be bought, frankly, very cheaply in auction,” he said.
And despite all the headlines about millennials turning away from diamonds, De Beers said in a recent report that in 2015, they spent nearly $26 billion on diamond jewelry in the largest four markets combined — the U.S., China, India and Japan. That amounted to 45 percent of the total retail value of new diamond jewelry acquired in those markets.
According to De Beers, millennials “represent a source of considerable future potential for the sector.”
Read more at Refinery29