The supply of natural diamonds has been purposefully and strategically reduced. The result is
price stabilization. Polished diamond prices have remained stable for the last two months and
are beginning to rise, albeit slowly.
De Beers just dropped rough diamond prices by 10-15% and Alrosa has followed suit. This
rough price reduction is well calculated not to affect the ongoing recovery of polished diamond
prices.
Over the past year, De Beers and Alrosa have been decreasing rough diamond supply, while
not reducing prices. The high rough diamond prices made it difficult for diamond cutters to
reduce their polished prices. Now that polished diamond prices are stable, De Beers can
confidently reduce rough prices and allow manufacturers to make a little profit. De Beers and
Alrosas’ regular customers have been losing money for over a year, and even, at the current
reduced prices, they are still paying about 10% over the prices achieved at smaller rough
tenders.
Polished diamond supply and demand is more in balance than it has been during the past two
years. Overproduction caused serious confidence issues. Weak prices hurt everyone involved
with diamonds, and financial losses are forcing industry members to work cooperatively to
remedy the situation. Diamond producing countries, miners and manufacturers, as a group,
agreed to initiate inclusive initiatives directed to funding natural diamond marketing.
Diamond producing countries are partnering with miners. Miners and polishers are constructing
a concrete plan to introduce a small tariff, less than a quarter percent, to be applied to all rough
and polished diamonds as they proceed through different stages of the supply chain. The
proceeds of this tariff, which could be hundreds of millions of dollars, will go directly to theNatural Diamond Council for generic marketing.
De Beers has already started category marketing with strategic retail partners in the United
States, China and India. They are also creating educational sales and marketing packages for
independent retailers. Al Cook, CEO of De Beers, explains the overall premise, “We need
everyone to step up, to play their role, in marketing natural diamonds…It’s not enough for De
Beers and Botswana to lead. Right now, you can make margins in a lot of different (jewellery
products). But we all know the health of our business, in the long term, is built on natural
diamonds.”
At last! The natural diamond industry is awake and on the move! Consumers and retailers can
feel a positive shift. Diamond prices are expected to continue recovering during 2025 … This is
good news!
On behalf of everyone at Regal Imports, I wish you continued success, health, and happiness.
We promise, on our part, to do everything in our power to present diamonds ethically,
responsibly, honestly, and passionately! We understand that every diamond that we sell will be
presented as ‘the most loving and emotional gift that one person can give to another’.
Mel Moss