Marty Hurwitz's Key Points • Lab-created diamonds offer three things young consumers want: small environmental impact, price transparency, and savings. • A record wave of store closures suggests the jewellery industry is in the midst of significant change. • Lab-created diamonds take the guesswork out of the jewellery business, as inexpensive quality stones are available on demand. |
The Baby Boomer generation (1946-1964) has long been the bedrock of fine jewellery sales. This generation is ageing out of their peak spending years and is steadily shrinking in numbers.
The Millennial generation, those born between 1981 and 1996, officially surpassed the Baby Boomers as the largest US adult
cohort in 2019.
According to the Pew Research Centre, Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, are close behind and will enter the labour force en masse throughout the mid-2020s.
Bain?&?Company estimates that Millennials and Gen?Z will drive virtually all luxury market growth and represent roughly two-thirds
of purchasing power by 2025.
These consumers prize sustainability, transparency, and digital fluency, and these values are already reshaping every corner of discretionary spending.
Parallel product revolution
As demographics tilt younger, lab-created diamonds have raced from curiosity to category.
The Knot’s 2025 ‘Real Weddings’ study shows that 52 per cent of US engagement rings now feature a lab-created diamond centre stone, increasing six points in a single year and quadruple their share in 2019.
Market analysts, such as Research and Markets, value the global lab-created diamond segment at about?$USD28?billion in 2025, with double-digit annual growth projected through the decade
Indeed, lab-created diamonds deliver three things that ‘next gen’ consumers love: a smaller environmental footprint, radical price transparency, and savings of between 30-70 per cent per carat.
How next gen consumers want to shop
Today’s luxury consumers don’t merely want a product; they want a story, a shareable moment, and the power to co-create.
Surveys across consumer sectors show that well over half of shoppers will pay a premium for businesses and brands that mirror their values on sustainability and social impact.
They also expect an omnichannel glide path — moving fluidly from TikTok discovery to virtual try-on to an in-real-life (IRL) appointment — all while their wish list and ring size follow them in the cloud.
Shake Out: Legacy storefronts are disappearing
Any lingering doubts about the urgency of reinvention should evaporate with the latest retail store closure data.
Record-setting store shutdowns: More than 5,800 US retail locations closed in the first half of?2025, up from?around?3,500 during the same period in?2024.
Coresight Research now projects 15,000 total closures by year’s end, which is more than double last year’s tally and the most since the pandemic peak, as reported by JCK Online.
Jewellery is not immune: The Jewelers Board of Trade reports 167 US jewellery stores ceased operations in the first quarter of 2025 alone.
This represents a 21 per cent increase on a year-on-year comparison, with only 68 new stores opened during the same period, again reported by JCK Online.
In short, the traditional ‘big box jewellery retailer with rows of glass cases’ model is under structural siege.
Lease liabilities, heavy inventory, and transactional selling floors are millstones in a world where younger shoppers buy online first.
Indeed, these young consumers are visiting stores for inspiration, expertise, and those ‘Instagram-worthy’ moments, and not to browse endless trays of the same merchandise.
How big is bespoke?
The gulf between what consumers want and what retailers think they want is massive.
The jewellery industry is experiencing a renaissance, driven by the increasing demand for custom-made and bespoke pieces.
Consumers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, are increasingly seeking unique, personalised jewellery that reflects their individual styles and values.
THE MVEye‘s research demonstrates that the disconnection between what consumers want and what retailers think they want is massive.
In July, we asked jewellery retailers: Will consumers pay a premium for bespoke and/or custom jewellery experiences?
• 34.3 per cent said they ‘did not know’
• 25.7 per cent said ‘maybe’
• 20 per cent said ‘no’
At the same time, we asked consumers: Would you pay a premium for a custom and/or bespoke fine jewellery creation made exactly to your specifications?
• 68.7 per cent said ‘yes’
• 19.4 per cent said ‘maybe’
Of those consumers who answered ‘yes’, we asked this all-important follow-up question: What percentage over the retail price would you be willing to pay for a custom and/or bespoke fine jewellery creation made exactly to your specifications?
• 30.4 per cent said they would pay
30 per cent over the retail price
• 30.4 per cent said they would pay
20 per cent over the retail price
• 19.6 per cent said they would pay
40 per cent over the retail price
• 8.7 per cent said they would pay
50 per cent over the retail price
Why is this happening now? It’s because the stars have finally aligned, with three factors in particular contributing.
Rapid CAD/CAM design: Remember when getting a custom sketch into production felt like sending smoke signals across the Pacific?
Those days are dead! Now, you send us a sketch, we scan it, and our overseas partners crank out a CAD rendering overnight.
It’s literally an overnight process; we’re talking by tomorrow morning, you’re looking at a 3D model of your ring.
Lab-created diamonds: This is a game-changer. Back in the day, you’d spend hours picking diamonds, weighing the pros and cons of clarity, colour, and cost.
Now? Lab-created diamonds are a plug-and-play solution. Everyone is given two categories
to choose from, great ($USD200 per carat) and perfect ($USD300 per carat).
There are no surprises, no guesswork, just two stunning diamonds that show up exactly how you want them.
Factories that get it: It’s like the universe finally decided to let manufacturers in on the secret.
We now have partners – not enough, but we’re working on it – with the infrastructure to turn out bespoke pieces in 10 business days.
These are not semi-custom pieces or ‘assemble it yourself’ kits. This is genuine, custom-made jewellery in your hands in under two weeks. These businesses are saying, “bring us your ideas and we will make them real.”
Why does acting now matter?
When Jeweller last hosted the Great Diamond Debate in 2019, I encouraged readers to answer a simple question: What business are you in?
I explained that jewellers must remember that they are not in the investment business. If your customers want investments, they should go to a stockbroker or financial advisor.
Jewellers are, or at least should be, in the love business. If your customers want to give a gift that symbolises their love for someone, they come to you. You need to focus on and remember which business you trade in, or you’ll become obsolete.
That was my message at the time, and while the jewellery industry may have changed a great deal over the past six years, these facts remain relevant.
With the Baby Boomers exiting the market and the Millennials and Gen Z beginning to dominate spending, lab-created diamond jewellery is exploding.
With a record wave of store closures clearing the retail landscape, the jewellery industry finds itself at a once-in-a-generation inflection point.
Businesses that cling to the old ‘glass case, mined diamonds’ orthodoxy risk becoming the next Blockbuster.
Those that pivot to experience-driven, low-inventory business models with lab-created diamond jewellery can ride
the 40-year wave of demand that is coming. These businesses won’t just own a share of wallet, they’ll own a share of heart.
The blueprint is ready: Modern product, modern place, with modern process. Get those three Ps right, and the fourth, profit, will follow.
THE GREAT DIAMOND DEBATE III
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