As of December 2021, a two-carat diamond with the color rating G and the clarity rating of VS1 (very slightly included) in the United States had a price of ****** U.S. dollars per carat. That was the highest per carat price of any category of diamond in the U.S. at that time.

In 1960, the average price for such a diamond stood at some ***** U.S. dollars. Since then, the diamond price has increased more than tenfold, to ****** U.S. dollars in 2015. Diamond prices: carats to dollars Diamonds are a carbon-based gemstone coveted by innumerable people worldwide. They are among the hardest materials on Earth (if not the hardest), which makes them very valuable for industrial uses in addition to their wide use in luxury jewelry. Diamonds are also expensive. The cut, clarity, color, and carat (weight and size) are the so-called four 'Cs' that dictate a diamond's price. One carat is equal to a weight of approximately *** milligrams, and cost approximately ****** U.S. dollars in 2015. Diamond prices per carat show a consistent increasing trend, while the annual rough diamond production worldwide has sat between *** million carats and *** million carats between 2009 and 2019. Impact of the diamond demand-supply gap on prices As the known global diamond reserves continue to be mined and depleted while the global demand for diamonds increases, a diamond demand-supply gap is expected to develop in the coming years. By 2050, there is a forecasted supply shortfall of some *** million carats of diamonds worldwide. This will likely cause the price per carat to continue increasing for natural diamonds. The production of synthetic diamonds, also referred to as lab grown diamonds, is a potential solution to the projected diamond shortfall. There was a steady production of between **** and **** billion carats of synthetic diamonds worldwide between 2007 and 2016. Synthetic diamonds also cost between ** and ** percent less than a natural diamond does, but not every consumer is willing to forgo natural diamonds in favor of a diamond that has been created in a lab.

In 2022, the total value of the diamond jewelry market worldwide amounted to **** billion (nominal) U.S. dollars. That represented a slight decrease of *** billion U.S. dollars from the previous year, as the global diamond industry recovered from the results of the COVID-19 pandemic. The diamond jewelry industry: a market leader Diamonds are a rare and naturally occurring mineral that are comprised of carbon. Diamonds are the hardest known substance and are also chemically resistant. They have the highest thermal conductivity of any natural material. Diamonds also have special properties that make it the world’s most popular gemstone. These properties include a high index of refraction, high dispersion, and high luster. Russia had the largest diamond reserves of any country in the world in 2021. However, the United States had by far the largest market for diamond jewelry, which was worth several times more than that of second-placed China. De Beers: a company is forever? De Beers, headquartered in London, is one of the world’s largest and most successful diamond mining companies. Founded in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes, it has had a dominant presence in the global diamond industry ever since. Until the beginning of the 21st century, it had a monopoly on the diamond market. The revenue of De beers has been fluctuating since 2011, and in 2020 revenue rose to *** billion U.S. dollars. In the 20th century, De Beers embarked on a strategy to convince consumers that diamonds are the best way to effectively prove your love and commitment to a romantic partner. This spearheaded the diamond engagement ring trend. They created the famous slogan, “A Diamond is Forever".

As of April 2020, the price of a *** carat diamond with the properties G - VS2 was approximately ***** euros, while the price of a *** carat diamond with the properties H - Sl1 were valued at approximately ***** euros. Diamonds vary significantly in price depending on their size and characteristics.

In 2023, the price of a one carat diamond from De Beers was approximately ** U.S. dollars. De Beers is one of the leading diamond companies in the world. It is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.

The production of one carat of mined diamonds typically produces some 2.63 metric tons of mineral waste as a by-product. Lab-grown diamonds, on the other hand, only produce an average mineral waste of 600 grams per carat produced. The production of mined diamonds involves the movement of substantial volumes of earth to obtain the diamonds, which makes diamond mining a much more environmentally disruptive process than producing lab diamonds.

As of 2021, the production of lab-grown diamonds using the high pressure high temperature (HPHT) method had the largest range of energy consumption, with a lower range value of 28 kilowatt hours and an upper range of 245 kilowatt hours of energy consumed per carat produced. Conversely, mined diamond production (natural diamonds) had the narrowest range of energy consumed, ranging from a low of 96 kilowatt hours to a high of 150 kilowatt hours per carat produced.

The United States imported some 230 million carats of synthetic diamonds, also known as lab diamonds, from China in 2022. That year, the U.S. imported a total of 295 million carats of lab diamonds from more than 15 countries, but China was by far the largest source of U.S. imports. Synthetic diamonds are artificially produced, often in laboratories, which is why they are also known as lab diamonds. Two of the most common production methods are through high-pressures and high-temperatures (HPHT) as well as through the formation of crystals through chemical vapor deposition (CVD).