Diamond Prices
Here you can find all information on diamond prices and pricing: Current price trends as well as historical data will help you understand the topic. And you will learn what drives the dynamics in the market.
Our goal is to give you a feeling of diamond prices in the different sizes and qualities. Next to the differences of the various types of diamonds we provide information on the value chain of the industry with profit margins varying extremely from 1% up to more than 100%.
Last but not least you will find information on possible future trends and developments and how experts predict the coming years of the diamond trade in terms of demand and supply.
Table of Contents
Polished Diamonds 2010 to 2015
The following graph shows indexed prices fell over 2014. However, the first four months of 2015 price recovered.
Source: Idex.com
Growth Rates of Polished Diamonds 2010 to 2014
The data shows how different carat sizes vary in their performance and follow different price trends. After two years of steady growth (2010 and 2011) prices went down for three years until the trend was reversed again in 2015.
Source: Diamonds.net
What Affects Diamond Prices?
The average increase in value of rough diamonds is about 3% per year. Most important driving forces are the overall economic performance as well as internal changes in the diamond industry. Empirically rough diamond prices recover fast after crises. After the last financial crisis the big players in the market like De Beers acted quickly and cut production. As a result gobal production fell from 175 million carats in 2006 carats to only 120 million carats in 2009.
Similar to crises the market reacts quickly to the discovery and exploitation of new diamond mines. In the mid 1980s Russian and Australian mines started production which caused prices to drop. Also, the large-scale sale of De Beers huge diamond stock beginning in 2002 pressured prices. But there are other solutions to cutting production: Shortly after the crisis of 2007 the Russian diamond producer ALROSA did not reduce its production but instead sold the oversupply to the state-run mineral resources fund "Gokhran". By doing so Gokhran build up the largest diamond stock worldwide. More important for price developments than large stock are macroeconomic changes because they affect the demand side on a much larger scale.
After losing its monopoly De Beers a number of smaller companies own a smaller proportion in relation to the entire market and influence the market price less. The structure of the diamond market is important: Smaller market actors need to keep stock piles smaller due to additional costs that comes with them. At the end of the day every supplier will be willing to sell diamonds on a discount when he needs liquidity. This is especially true for the market of polished diamonds as profit margins tend to be very small here.
Historical Data: Rough Diamonds
Historical Data: Polished Diamonds
Polished vs. Rough Diamonds
The Influence of Carat Weight on Price
The graph displays the different development trends of diamond prices according to size. The time line shows how diamond prices tend to be stable over the years.
Diamond Prices: Carat Size
In the following you see how prices change exponentially with carat size - give that the quality (Color, Clarity, Cut) stays the same. The larger the stone, the rarer the chance of them being of higher quality.
Diamond Prices: Quality
There can be tremendous differences in price when buying a one carat diamond.
Value Chain of Jewelry Production
The traditional diamond dealer in the middle market, that is, in between the large producers and the retailers serving private customers the profit margin is around 1-2%. Most profits are being generated by the production and retail sectors.
