Natural diamond still India's crown jewel: De Beers Group CEO
Having toppled China as the world's second-biggest market for natural diamonds, India is shining bright for De Beers, said the mining conglomerate's global CEO Al Cook. Also, Indian consumers aren't following those in the US in taking to lab-grown diamonds (LGDs) in a big way. 'One can buy 20 LGDs for the price of 1 carat of natural diamond,' Cook, 50, told ET in an interview. 'LGD will remain a mass-produced, low-cost, pretty and fun jewellery to wear. Indian consumers are more sophisticated, and they like natural things. They believe in the uniqueness of natural diamonds and therefore the demand is growing.'Still, the miner is said to have to lowered its rough diamond production target for the current year, given the China slump and the rise of LGDs elsewhere. While the US market, the world's biggest, is gravitating towards LGD, Chinese buyers increasingly prefer gold over diamonds. Indians are most likely to pass diamond jewellery on as heirloom pieces to the next generation and hence the preference for natural stones, said Cook. He's in India on a three-day tour to meet diamond sight holders (rough diamond bulk buyers), retailers and manufacturers.
The British-born Cook said the Indian natural diamond market is expected to double by 2030 to $20 billion from $10 billion now, as the aspiration for natural diamonds is increasing among Indians. India's natural diamond consumption grew 12% year on year in 2024.
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De Beers has already announced that its natural diamond marketing spend in India in 2025 will be the highest in a decade. It has entered into a long-term strategic collaboration with the Tata Group's Tanishq to connect with more Indian consumers. India overtook China in diamond purchases in 2024. That's the year the Chinese market more than halved to 43 billion yuan ($6 billion) from100 billion yuan in 2021, according to the Gems & Jewellery trade Association. The downturn was driven by economic uncertainty and the shift in consumer preference to gold as the yellow metal's price surged.The US diamond jewellery market was valued at $356 billion in 2024, having declined by 8-9% over the previous two years, and is expected to reach $478.8 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 5.22%, according to De Beers.
In the US, LGDs are eating into the natural diamond pie, prompting De Beers to step up its game in India, where acceptance of the artificial variety is still at a nascent stage.
LGDs CATCHING UP
'Lab-grown diamond wholesale and retail prices continued to fall through 2024 as the bifurcation from natural diamonds progresses, with acceleration in the second half of the year,' Cook said. 'In the lead-up to the holiday season, several US retailers introduced deep discounts on lab-grown diamond jewellery amidst increased competition, with some retailers also including disclaimers for their customers that lab-grown diamonds may not hold their value over time.'
De Beers shut its LGD jewellery brand Lightbox, which was established in 2018, a few days ago, reinforcing its commitment to natural diamonds. Interestingly, the price of certain qualities of rough diamonds is on the rise as there is a supply constraint in the market. 'A proportion of natural diamond demand continues to be affected in the near-term by lab-grown diamonds in the US as a result of prevailing high retail margins, but such margins are expected to be unsustainable in light of increasing lab-grown diamond supply volumes, greater levels of competition, and growing consumer awareness of lab-grown diamond price trends,' the De Beers global CEO said. 'If you go to the US you can buy a LGD ring for $299 at Walmart.' Recognising the rapidly growing consumer demand for natural diamonds in India, Cook said, 'The industry used to be focused on diamonds 'from India' and 'by India', but now it's increasingly about diamonds 'for India' and 'to India'.'
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