India has surpassed China to become the second-largest diamond market in the world, according to Al Cook, the Chief Executive Officer of the UK-based diamond firm De Beers Group, in an interview with Bloomberg. He pointed out that the Chinese luxury market is currently experiencing a slowdown, while the Indian market is expanding at a double-digit growth rate.
“The positive news is that India has taken over where China was, and it is now the second-largest market globally for diamonds, with growth rates in the double digits,” Cook stated.
A recent report from Reuters indicated that India’s exports of cut and polished diamonds have declined this year due to reduced demand from the US and China, which has, in turn, strengthened the domestic diamond market.
Cook also noted the decline in demand for luxury goods in China, attributing it to a slowdown in the country’s economic growth. “China presents an interesting case. Demand across the luxury sector has decreased as economic growth has slowed. We view this as a longer-term issue,” he explained. He added that the first step would be the stabilization of demand in China, which is currently underway, but the resurgence of demand will take time.
Additionally, Cook addressed the impact of lab-grown diamonds on the natural diamond market in the United States, stating that their popularity has diminished the demand for natural diamonds. “The demand in the US has been affected by the rise of lab-grown diamonds. We need to communicate the value of natural diamonds more effectively,” he remarked.
He compared lab-grown diamonds to replicas, saying, “Lab-grown diamonds are produced in a microwave, akin to buying a poster of the Mona Lisa and claiming it’s the real artwork. A natural diamond takes over a billion years to form beneath the Earth’s surface, while a lab-grown diamond can be created in just three weeks.”
