The outgoing year was clearly a particularly challenging one. It required diamond industry companies to reconsider their future and created an opportunity to pivot towards reinventing diamonds as a true luxury item. The coming year should be the year of realignment.
in 2024, the diamond industry, from producing countries to retailers, was rattled in 2024. Usually, this happens when to large external forces lead consumers to halt spending. However, the issues of 2024 were almost entirely a result of internal diamond industry miscalculations, and that is what’s driving an industry realignment.
A Wider Issue is No Excuse
The industry miscalculations included a disastrous assumption that China’s economy would bounce back, mishandling of the introduction of lab-grown diamonds that came to a head, and very poor marketing. These are in addition to longstanding issues such as a very fragmented retail marketplace in the most important consumer market – the US.
Natural diamonds are not alone. Luxury houses are reporting flat to double-digit losses for 2024 as a move away from luxury is slowly taking place around the world.
This is of little consolation if the losses are felt in your own pocket. Nor does it spare the need to draft an action plan to pull the industry up by its bootstraps. Yes, the entire industry should take part in the turnaround effort.
Jewelry is quite a different business than bags or perfumes. The desire for jewelry is deeply ingrained in our DNA. People were making and wearing jewelry before there was even a written language. That is to say, we practically need jewelry.
And yet, jewelry goes beyond diamonds. So while overall US jewelry sales grew in 2024, while diamond jewelry lingered behind.
There is What to Do
Let’s be clear: the solution, although tempting, is not to reduce price. On the contrary, this is a time for the industry to stand firm, especially in retail.
But here lies the problem. Very few manufacturers are also jewelry retailers. So, imposing a strict price strategy that blocks deep retail discounts or hanging signs that shout HOLIDAY SALE!!! is impossible.
Photo : Botswana President Duma Boko at Facets 2024
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