“We want jewelers to talk about the piece of jewelry, the design, how special the piece is, but also about sym- bolic values,” Mehta says. Foerster recognizes the tension many jewelers and brands face between leading with the jewelry design or with the diamond content. That debate sat at the core of Hearts On Fire’s repositioning over the past two years, from being marketed primarily as a diamond brand with an emphasis on the superb cut of its stones to pre- senting itself as a diamond jewelry brand with design being the point of distinction. “We had to emphasize the jewelry in that journey,” she says. “Now that our value proposition has changed and the brand has been repositioned, we can lean back into our diamond story.” That shift allows Hearts On Fire to integrate the physical attributes of the diamond into a broader narrative about the piece itself, rather than treating the stone as the sole focal point. For De Beers, which last year introduced its Origin diamond brand, the differentiator lies in the individuality of each diamond, particularly in the context of lab-grown competition. For example, Borhanjoo explains, an I1 or SI2 clarity stone carries features that tell a story. Those inclusions are not flaws but birthmarks, he says, holding billions of years of geological history and energy within them. “Our big challenge is to show consumers what’s really unique in their piece of jewelry,” he says. “Beyond the design or whatever they fall in love with, the diamond itself is the component that has a unique element to it.” WHAT GEN Z WANTS This natural individuality stands in stark contrast to lab-grown diamonds, which don’t have that backstory and are typically sold based on price, Anghel stresses. The move toward lower price points aligns with broader spending patterns among Gen Z consumers, who reduced overall spending in early 2025, particular- ly in categories such as apparel, accesso- ries, and electronics, according to PwC research on consumer behavior. In the fine jewelry world, they’re turning to lab-grown diamonds to get a bigger stone while spending a fraction of what they would pay for an equivalent natural diamond. However, the pullback is more nuanced than simple belt-tightening, PwC researchers noted. “It’s a generational shift in how value is defined and where money feels worth spending,” they wrote. “It turns out Gen Z isn’t just price-conscious, they’re value-conscious, with an emphasis on emotional and social value, not just discounts.” In other words, Gen Z is not necessarily spending less across the board; they’re reallocating, trading down on routine purchases to make room for what they see as meaningful indulgences, PwC concluded. These more nuanced trends played out clearly in the jewelry market in 2025, when revenue growth was driven by higher ticket prices offsetting a drop in units sold, ac- cording to data from The Edge and Tenoris. Gold’s surge was part of the story, but the pattern showed up in natural diamonds as well. Sales of loose natural diamonds, typically used in custom engagement rings, fell 4 percent by value, with unit sales down 10 percent, even as the average purchase price climbed 6.3 percent to $11,000, Tenoris reported, highlighting the same trend conveyed by The Edge’s data. That, Golan noted, reflects a broader shift among American con- sumers toward buying fewer pieces but spending more on each one. It also underscores a market that is becoming increasingly segmented. The higher average price was driven in part by softer sales at lower price points and a move toward larger stones, with the average size reaching 1.46 carats, Golan reported. EROSION OF THE MIDDLE U.S. retail is splitting into two distinct camps, observes Ravi Bhansali, CEO of Rosy Blue Antwerp, a polished diamond supplier. At the top are high-end independents and luxury brands serving affluent clients, where natural diamonds still carry a strong value narrative, he explains. At the other end, the volume game is largely controlled by the majors selling commercial-quality goods, many of which continue to migrate to lab-grown. That hollowing out of the middle helped drive Hearts On Fire’s decision to repo- sition further upmarket, Foerster says. “We saw the trend and recog- nized the need to get out of the lab-grown pool,” she explains. “At the same time, there has definitely been a shift among affluent consum- ers buying more jewelry.” In the two years since shifting its focus to the high end, Hearts On Fire has nearly doubled its average transac- tion value, Foerster reports. The strategy also moves the emphasis NATIONAL JEWELER 77 For “Desert Diamonds,” De Beers commissioned various jewelry designers to make pieces using yellow- and brown-hued diamonds. This necklace is by Jade Ruzzo. Ruzzo also made a version of her “Tennessee” ring featuring pear-shaped Desert Diamonds.
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