A diamond is forever, but some are wondering if diamonds may, in fact, be going out of style.
In jewelry, the Big Four precious stones are diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. For a long time, these gemstones were the most desirable in the world, but now, spinel gemstones are all the rage and lab-grown gems may give organic stones a run for their money.
Spinels look similar to rubies, and were commonly misidentified as precious stones until the 18th century. In modern times, spinels started to gain attention when the Bonhams auction house sold the 50 carat Hope Spinel for a whopping $1.2 million. Still, similar sized diamonds can catch $9.5 million.
Prices are rising across the entire jewelry case, thanks partly to elevated inflation. With household budgets already constrained, many shoppers have been ditching the big four gemstones in favor of cheaper alternatives. Further, some shoppers view spinels as less ethically complex. Demand for gemstones has fueled violence in Africa and elsewhere, and big players in the jewelry industry have become intertwined in contentious conflicts. Meanwhile, spinels and many other gemstones have generally been less ethically contentious.
Spinels aren't the only gemstones challenging the dominance of the Big Four. Lab-grown diamonds, which many purists believe aren’t real diamonds, have exploded in popularity. In 2016, less than a billion dollars worth of lab-grown diamonds were sold. By 2022, consumers spent nearly $12 billion on lab-grown diamonds, with the market expanding nearly 40 percent from 2021 to 2022.
Interestingly, this sharp increase came as inflation hit historical levels. In response, De Beers, the world's biggest player in the natural diamond market, has had to slash prices, sometimes by as much as 40 percent, according to Forbes. For a long time, lab-grown diamonds carried a stigma, but inflation-strapped shoppers may be more willing to look past that. Cheaper gemstones like spinels are also becoming all the more attractive.
