Diamonds regain their sparkle as gem prices rise

Diamonds are starting to sparkle again, says Rachel Millard in The Daily Telegraph. The sector has been hit hard by Covid-19. The value of diamond imports to India, where the vast majority are cut and polished, collapsed from $1.5bn in February to just $1m in April. Yet prices have since recovered and the polishers are busier than ever. Diamond sellers have a Christmas sales surge to thank, say Thomas Biesheuvel and Yuliya Fedorinova on Bloomberg.

The industry had been in “the doldrums” for five years as wealthy shoppers splurged on luxury travel. Yet the virus has knocked out that competition. Still, some fear that the re-opening of the leisure industry later this year could mean the recovery proves a flash in the pan. Annual diamond jewellery sales are worth $80bn worldwide.

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In 2018 it began selling synthetic diamonds for the first time, hoping to brand them as a cheap and cheerful but inferior product to the “real” thing. Early indications are that that strategy is working, says Millard. The premium a buyer pays for a natural diamond over a lab-grown one has widened of late. A natural diamond costs roughly $1,465 compared with $600 for an artificial equivalent.

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Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019.

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere.

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful.

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.