Luxury precious rings in a row on display in a jewelry store in an upscale shopping mall.
Craig Hastings | Moment | fake images
Roses are red, violets are blue, precious stones are in fashion and so are prices.
Valentine's Day has long been one of the most popular days of the year for jewelry and engagements. American consumers will spend a record $6.4 billion on jewelry around Valentine's Day this year, accounting for 10% of total annual spending, according to Ankur Daga, founder and CEO of jewelry e-commerce company fine Angara.
This year, the contents of those ring boxes may look a little different than the traditional natural diamond solitaire.
“We're seeing a shift in engagement rings with much larger center stones, primarily as a result of lab-grown diamonds, and sapphires and rubies tend to be very hot,” Daga said.
A decade ago, about 5% of engagement rings were colored gemstones, according to Daga. Now it is more than 15%.
More than 20% of people would trade in their engagement ring for a colored gemstone, such as an emerald, yellow diamond or pink sapphire, for example, if they could, Daga said, citing the results of a survey Angara commissioned. more than 2,000 people.
Industry giant stamp jewelers You are seeing the same gemstone trend in the wedding category as well as fashion pieces. A particular rebound is being seen in sapphire, morganite, London blue topaz, aquamarine and green quartz stones, according to Signet, which sells jewelry under brands such as Zales, Jared and Kay.
Beyond engagement rings, Signet said amethyst and ruby are always popular stones for the Valentine's season. Amethyst is the birthstone for February and ruby red evokes the color of love.
But the shift toward colored gemstones could also be a reflection of the customer wanting a “more distinctive piece,” said Beth Gerstein, CEO of Brilliant Earth. The company, which specializes in lab-grown diamonds, also offers gemstones that span the entire color spectrum.
“We also see that gemstones resonate because people love the personalized approach of birthstones,” Gerstein said, adding that gemstones, in general, “fit well with a Gen Z audience, as that we know they want something that is unique to them and that reflects their identity. Personal style.”
Gemstones seen displayed for sale during an event.
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Supply pressures
The demand for gemstones is increasing at the same time that the supply of many natural gemstones is becoming scarcer.
Rubies and some select exotic stones have become more expensive and difficult to obtain due to quality concerns and limitations in the regions from which the stones can be sourced. Those challenges have led to similar stones like garnets instead of rubies, for example.
“There is actually only one mine in Madagascar that produces most of the world's rubies,” said Angara Dagger. “If you look at sapphire, the mines in Burma and Kashmir are now closed, so we really have Sri Lanka and Madagascar as the two main suppliers. Even on the emerald side, we see emerald supply from Zambia and Colombia is much harder to get to, at least much higher prices than in the past.”
Hands holding a diamond ring with a ruby.
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Wholesale prices for sapphire gemstones have increased 12% annually over the past three years, Daga said. In the case of emeralds, 13%, and rubies, 17%.
“Some of the more specialized stones, such as pearls and opals, rise more than 20% a year. Tourmalines rise up to 36% a year,” he said.
In comparison, the compound annual growth rate of S&P 500 The stock index is 10.5% in the last three years.
Daga argues that the shift in supply and demand for gemstones (and consumers' general desire for color in many luxury items, such as gemstone bezels on Rolex watches or brightly colored Ferraris) makes stones are a more attractive asset class.
“If you look at Bonhams, Sotheby's and Christie's auctions very recently, more than half of the gemstone lots have sold above high estimates, and there are quite a few lots that are selling for three times the estimates. high,” Daga pointed out. “We're seeing this transition towards investors really seeing color as a hedge against inflation and as a growth vehicle for investments.”
A 25.86-carat deep yellow diamond is displayed at an auction preview in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, Dec. 19, 2023.
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While the diamond market has moved dramatically over the past three years toward lab-grown alternatives (accounting for 50% of diamond engagement rings purchased last year, according to Daga), the same is not yet true for stones. beautiful colors.
About 75% of customers who buy colored gemstones still prefer natural ones, he said.
“While [lab-grown gemstones] are chemically, physically and optically identical to natural ones, I think the key difference is that they look so perfect as a result of most colored gemstones having inclusions,” Daga explained, using an industry term for what the casual admirer might call them imperfections. “Those inclusions are really what make them pretty or will make them unique and different.”
-CNBC Cait Freda contributed to this report.
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