Diamond companies are seeing green shoots of growth in the business, driven by rising appetite for fancy shapes and layouts alongside extensive industry-wide campaigns to revitalise demand for natural diamonds.

Reeling from a challenging couple of years in the diamond trade, industry stakeholders are also looking at new avenues of growth, revealed Yoram Dvash, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB).

The rise of a younger, tech-savvy and highly discerning clientele with fresh aspirations for diamond jewellery is of particular interest, so companies must find the most effective way to resonate with this emerging buyer demographic.

“To effectively engage with the younger consumers, we need to reach them where they are – on social media channels,” explained Dvash. 

Influencer marketing plays a critical role in this area amid a changing consumer culture, especially among younger generations. Evidently, the celebrities and influencers that they follow on social media have a major impact on their buying choices.

Take for instance a recent surge in demand for marquise diamonds, which Dvash attributed to American singer and actress Selena Gomez’s 8-carat marquise diamond engagement ring.

“Selena received her engagement ring and there was a sudden spike in demand for marquise diamonds, which have not been as popular in recent years,” he noted. “We need to focus our messaging on what resonates with young buyers and to invest heavily in expanding our market reach.”

This is where comprehensive projects and collaborations aimed at boosting demand for natural diamonds come into the picture. 

Several industry stakeholders, including WFDB, De Beers, the Natural Diamond Council and India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, to name a few, have recently announced industry-wide diamond campaigns.

According to Dvash, these differ from past initiatives as the aim now is distinguish natural diamonds from lab-grown stones. In addition, these are geared towards a market segment that has not been exposed to previous campaigns.

“We are already seeing the impact of these campaigns, but it will take time to educate consumers,” he remarked. “Natural diamond producers did not invest in generic marketing in the past 15 or 20 years. Thankfully, that is changing. But we must be patient to see real change.”

Trends

Diamond industry players are adapting to the times by redirecting focus on fast-moving items, but these must have a clean centre and fewer inclusions. Fancy-shaped diamonds, for instance, are gaining steam in the market, according to Priyal Shankar, director (Marketing and IT) of Shivam Jewels.

“That is the trend that we are seeing,” he noted. “Radiance and longer oval cuts are doing well. Marquise diamonds are also favoured in the market.” 

The company specialises in 50 pointers to 5-carat diamonds. Of late, diamonds of 1.5 carats are performing strongly, especially in the Middle East and New York. In the Middle East, diamonds of 1.5 to 4 carats are selling as earring centre stones, added Shankar.

Meanwhile, buyers are increasingly gravitating towards diamond layouts, according to Jay Bhalala, business development manager at HK Impex Pvt Ltd. 

“With the market slowdown, it has become quite challenging to move single stones. Clients favour layouts because they get to see design ideas. All the diamonds have also been meticulously chosen for them,” he added. 

Customers are on the lookout for diamonds of 3 carats and below as those above 3 carats have become harder to come by due to limited stock in the market. Majority of the business is driven by the US, with support from India and the Middle East, noted Bhalala. 

Shankar is confident that the diamond market will continue to recover, with 2025 being “a fairly better year” compared to 2024. For one, those who started buying lab-grown diamonds in the past are gradually shifting back to natural diamonds. “We are seeing this in Australia. We also expect more American consumers to do the same,” he noted. “We must stay calm and very much aligned to what the customer wants.”