What's Happening with Lab Grown Diamonds?

Since we last wrote about this new product much has happened that may help you to decide if you’re in the market for a Lab Grown diamond or an earth-mined(natural) diamond.

The major takeaways are:

All age groups are purchasing Lab Grown diamonds.Those include first time engaged and mature customers who always purchased natural diamond in the past.

Mature customers tend to buy fashion jewelry most often including tennis bracelets and large stud earrings, though many have upgraded their engagement rings for a much bigger, more brilliant diamond.

Most of the young people getting engaged are doing so with Lab Grown diamonds ,both as their center stones and in the smaller side diamonds.The smallest this cohort buys are 2 ct. And many are going for 3 and 4 ct center stones.

Nationwide, Lab Grown are reported to now have 48% of the market for diamond engagement rings and here at Abby’s we are seeing over 60% opting for Lab Grown diamonds for their engagement rings.

Other important changes in this market are price and selection.

The price continues to drop for Lab Grown diamonds but some industry analytics show it may be bottoming out.These analysts believe the price will then begin to rise.

And selection is more varied. When they were first introduced Lab Grown diamonds were all at the high end of the Color/Clarity scale for diamonds which largely determines price. Now we are seeing lower but still beautiful diamonds that are produced at a slightly lower Color/ Clarity and therefore costing less.

Example, we currently have 4 ct total weight stud earrings at $2500 and $8,000. The differences are apparent to us and we will easily show the difference to or consumers.

This as with so many major, luxury purchases is a buyer beware situation where the consumer needs to educate themselves and gather good information before making a purchase of this transformative product.