Diamonds have always been a status symbol of the wealthy and there are more wealthy people throughout the world now, then there were ten years ago. Fancy Diamonds have made their way onto the bodies of the elite, showing that their rarity outweighs the brilliance that many colorless diamonds can bring. Diamonds have always been in demand, but quite curiously despite conflict diamonds and the issues that the movie Blood Diamond brought to light, more people are demanding them while supply is not increasing.
In fact, supply is almost impossible to increase when it comes to diamonds simply because of the process involved in mining and the fact that only one new diamond mine has been found in last 10 years. So when I read about prices going up because the demand is there, I had to wonder how this would affect the cultured diamond market. Not yet a huge market, it is certainly one that can be looked to as natural diamond prices begin to rise. As I mentioned in a previous post, cultured diamonds are indeed real diamonds, only grown in a lab environment. Obviously this cuts out the “million years” to create it part that can be an obstacle when diamonds are in demand, but as we all begin to look at the toll mining takes on our environment, cultured diamonds may be the perfect alternative and a price increase the perfect time to look into them.
I wonder if supply not being met by the demand for diamonds will cause some to take a second look at cultured diamonds or will natural diamonds be the only way true diamond lovers will go? If the cultured diamond market begins to flood with consumer demand and it can keep up, will natural diamonds then go down in price in order to compete? Certainly a price surge may be a deterrent for the average diamond consumer, however I hardly think it will have any effect on those living a luxury lifestyle. Considering that the majority of the world are those “average diamond consumers” how will their decision impact natural diamond prices one way or another?
What do you think?
