44 Jewelers Share Their 2026 Predictions: The Safe, the Wild and the Unclassifiable

The quotes and stats here come from INSTORE’s November Brain Squad survey. Thanks to the owners and top managers who took the time. Want in? Signup link’s at the bottom.

In our November Brain Squad survey, we asked jewelers to share two predictions for 2026 — one conservative, one outlandish. Some followed the format faithfully. Others gave us both barrels without labels. And a few offered forecasts where the “safe bet” sounded just as wild as the long shot.

• Natural diamonds skyrocket in sales over lab. Gold hits $8K (no….please no…). — Tom N., Spencer, IA
• Many stores will close the doors. Bench jewelers will work from home. Box stores will sell more 10K, gold-filled, sterling and lab-grown stones. — Elizabeth P., St. Louis, MO
• Outlandish, gold goes back to the prices we saw in the ’80s and ’90s. $250 to $350. Conservative, somehow the industry reverts to the early times where gold and all quality jewelry was a true luxury, and the average person bought a lot of quality gold-plated jewelry such as Krementz and other manufacturers. Those companies ceased to exist during the era of low gold prices when a teenage person could buy several solid gold neck chains on the income from a part-time job at a fast food place. — Edwin M., Brainerd, MN

• I predict that in 2026, natural diamond engagement rings will continue their climb back up, but lab-grown diamond prices will keep natural prices from getting back to pre-lab-grown diamond pricing days! — Angela C., Atascadero, CA
• Either we are going to end this year in a recession with $5,000+ gold OR an economic boom — with gold at $5,000+. — Vincent S., Chicago, IL
• Lab melee will replace natural diamond melee. — John P., Winter Park, FL
• I’m not good at predicting anything … I just turn up the music and enjoy the journey. — Sherrie S., Tigard, OR
• I’ve never been good at predictions. I just keep my head down and try to roll with the circumstances. — Janne E., Cocoa, FL
• Gold will continue to rise and cause designs to get lighter. Jewelry vending machines will appear in airports and luxury malls. — Betsy B., San Francisco, CA
• Conservative prediction is that independent jewelers will double down on omnichannel integration over omnichannel existence. Real growth won’t be coming from “being everywhere” — it will come from eliminating friction between everywhere. The stores that win will be the ones whose digital browsing, in-store appointments and post-sale service feel like one continuous thread, not separate silos. Outlandish prediction: A high-profile celebrity will publicly announce they’ve melted down their entire jewelry collection and rebuilt it using only reclaimed metals and lab-created stones. It will trigger a viral wave and suddenly, “heritage-level luxury” will not be defined by mined gemstones, but by creative re-engineering and the ethical reinvention of what already exists. It will spark a movement where “cool luxury” = reclaimed, reimagined, reborn. — Denise O., La Grange, IL
• There will be several new diamond mines, with more natural fancy colors and record-breaking sizes, helping shift the focus back to the rarity of natural diamonds. New technologies will introduce a whole new sector to the jewelry industry, with new accessories unlike anything else. I can’t say what it is, because it has yet to be invented or maybe even discovered. — Katrina S., Racine, WI
• Conservative … lower numbers of customers buying jewelry as Christmas gifts. Outlandish? The Land Rover effect: when it was cheaper nobody wanted to buy it, when the price was raised, everyone wanted a Land Rover. One can only dream. — Liliana M., East Patchogue, NY

My two predictions: 1. The economic confidence continues to improve and sales continue to improve in 2026. 2. (Outlandish) Gold hits $10,000 per ounce and all of us long-time jewelers scrap our entire inventory and retire as very wealthy individuals. — Eric S., West Springfield, MA

• Be careful, the price of gold might roll back. — Ragnar B., Vancouver, BC
• Hahahahahaha. NO WAY. — Cliff Y., Lowell, MI
• In a tulip-bulb moment, someone will realize that gold is just a metal. This will happen to crypto too. — Steven W., Chatham, MA
• The gold market will even out around $3,000 per ounce. Natural earth-mined diamonds are going to make a comeback. — Sue P., Escanaba, MI
• Gold will hit $10,000. The other is that tariffs turn the average jeweler into a superhero because they can now compete with manufacturers’ pricing. — Amber G., Katy, TX
• Conservative — price of gold going very high will put some mom-and-pop jewelry stores out of business. Outlandish — price of gold going between $5,000-$10,000 per ounce. All jewelers will become very rich. — Barry F., Bardonia, NY
• Conservative: I think labs continue to plummet. We are seeing them in fashion jewelry a lot more and I think that is where they will stay. Outlandish: Gold stays consistent. I am not sure that is outlandish but I don’t think it goes through the roof. — Cole R., Bradenton, FL

• Probably not as early as 2026, but with AI, people will be able to tell an app on their phone, “Make me Taylor Swift’s engagement ring, size 6, with a lab diamond in 10K gold.” Two weeks later, they will receive their ring in the mail. Since AI can’t come up with anything new — just recycle what’s already been done — it will have a dampening effect on innovation and design, but we’ll all be so tired from working at the lithium mines for our AI overlords we won’t notice. — Gretchen S., Sherman Oaks, CA
• Gold will remain stable at around 180G per kilo while platinum continues to go up. Angola will buy De Beers’ stake and within months of a slow sales pace, they will start to dump goods and the natural diamond market will destabilize. — David B., Calgary, AB
• Gold will drop once this unstable political situation is stabilized again. I think people will be so happy it’s over we’ll have an incredibly positive retail next year! — Monica L., Fond du Lac, WI
• Gold will go below $3,500. There will be a discovery of a new gemstone that goes viral. — Laura P., St. Robert, MO
• I hope people will stop feeling afraid. Everybody in government will work together for the greater good. — Karen H., Batavia, IL
• Same old, same old! AI might be a little more advanced, which could be a good or bad tool, or the machines are going to take over the world. — Scott M., Jacksonville, MD
• More reduction in labs until they are pennies on the dollar. More changing their tune like us. — Susan E., El Paso, TX
• Gold $5,000 and silver $80! — Alan P., Wilmington, NC
• 1) That gold will hit $5,000 an ounce, and we will have difficulty staying in business. 2) That gold will stabilize, our customers will desire it even more, and we will be wildly successful. — Annette K., Stillwater, OK

Conservative: Natural diamond prices start to increase again (finally). Outlandish? I got nothing. — Jeff M., Knoxville, TN

• A. As long as the stock market is happy, my client base is buying. B. Gulag America. — Eve A., Evanston, IL
• The rich will get richer, but the have-nots will struggle. — Jill H., Coral Gables, FL
• Gold prices will drop slightly and settle in at $3,500. One can wish! Tariffs will remain the same or drop. I do believe our business will continue to grow. Outlandish! My business will do so well, I can retire by year’s end! I’m 71. — Christine M., Boyertown, PA
• Gold will settle at a price that the average person can afford to buy gold jewelry again. Lab-grown diamonds will disappear as they become the equivalent of good rhinestones. — James D., Kingston, NH
• 1) Because of the rising price of gold and tariffs on imported stones, jewelry, etc., the jewelry market will become a low-margin industry. 2) Because of the rising price of gold and the increases in stone expense, we will ALL make LOTS of money and retire multi-millionaires! — Joe C., Bristol, RI
• Lab-grown diamonds will continue to decline. And gold will fall below $3,200 by March. — Marc M., Midland, TX
• I keep waiting for all of the 45-65-year-old women to notice the BIG diamonds on their daughters’ hands and start coming in to get their own! I see a growing trend of women purchasing their own fashion jewelry and larger diamonds over the next year and into the future! — Cheryl K., Lincoln, NE
• Gold will stabilize in 2026 but only when it hits $6,000. — Tim W., Yorktown, VA
• Gold at $5,000 becomes normal instead of reacting to it. Bridal customers going outside the normal of diamond center stones. — Bob W., Peoria, IL
• Gold reaching $6,000 and silver $75. Loose diamonds becoming a thing again. — Stew B., Natick, MA
• I predict that brick-and-mortar businesses will be in high demand again and those stores that have been able to stick it out will be glad they did. AI will really begin to take over how we do business. — Brenda N., El Segundo, CA

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• Mined diamonds will make a comeback of sorts, and gold will end up below $3,000 by the end of the year. — Bill E., Terre Haute, IN
• As more and more stores close, we have taken in many new customers. I feel that in 80 years of business, people have gotten back to businesses that serve them and not just sell them items. — John A., Bala Cynwyd, PA
• As soon as the tariff war settles and the trimmed-down government bureaucracy returns, we will see a revived and booming American business not seen for generations. That’s the conservative view. Only imagine what the outlandish one will be! — Joe T., Lubbock, TX
 

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