Data for the first quarter of 2026 indicate a further 14% decline.
If you plan to purchase jewelry featuring lab-created diamonds, be aware that their prices have fallen further, following last year’s decline. Therefore, the stones are valuable (and should cost less). This change is confirmed by Tenoris, a company that collects data on jewelry and gemstone sales and purchases from 2,500 specialty retailers in the United States. The sample of retailers represents a representative sample of the US jewelry industry in terms of size, volume, and geographic location.
Wholesale prices for synthetic diamonds for the first quarter of 2026 indicate a further 14% decline in the prices of artificially created diamonds.
The largest decline occurred in the largest cuts, 3-carat round diamonds, down 28% compared to 2025. This decline, however, is less sharp than the 40% decline recorded in the first quarter of 2025. In 2024, Tenoris tracked over 3.9 million retail transactions with a total value of nearly $4.6 billion, representing 10.5% of US specialty jewelers’ sales and 5.8% of the total US jewelry market.
Perhaps also thanks to falling prices, consumer purchases of jewelry featuring these diamonds remained strong in the March quarter. Data indicates that sales grew at a double-digit rate, but average spending remained unchanged, as shoppers took advantage of lower prices to purchase larger or higher-quality stones for the same amount of money. It should be remembered that lab-created diamonds are also graded based on quality, just like natural diamonds.
According to experts, prices for larger stones are expected to remain stable in the coming months. The trend is also toward higher quality. However, for jewelers, the biggest problem appears to be inventory, which is growing faster than sales: capital tied up and devalued by falling prices.
