There’s a Buying Frenzy in Cheap and Tiny Diamonds
De Beers raised the price of some of its cheapest rough diamonds by nearly 20% this week.
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A surge in diamond demand that began in the early Covid lockdowns is showing no sign of easing, and now even the cheapest, smallest stones are getting caught up in a buying frenzy.
Low-end diamonds — the sort that you might find in jewelry displayed in a local WalMart — has been a tough business for most of the last decade. There’s been an oversupply of cheaper stones, which tend to be small and flawed, and anemic demand growth kept prices depressed and profit margins thin.