2024 occurred to be a life-changing year in many senses. Social, economic, and political issues are bonded into unique quintessential of challenges. Although these challenges come from matters seemingly unrelated to each other, they all made a bold accent on the highest values – human life, love, and interpersonal support.
The jewelry market belongs to the segments that are highly responsive to values’ reshape since the story behind each jewelry item is inextricably linked to human perception of life – life as a whole and every given moment separately.
Mainly this thirst for life preconditioned an incredible demand for jewelry, especially for man-made diamonds that reached a new level of sales – 10% of global sales.
The wedding boom fostered the sales of man-made diamonds
Madestones admits that 2025 is remarkable for the incredible number of weddings. Although it was not once predicted by many jewelry market observers, the number of marriages appeared to be impressive for every part – wedding agencies, jewelry traders, and social and economic analysts.
So, just in the United States of America around 2,6 million couples said their vows last year, and this number exceeds even the pre-pandemic figures. Due to Knot’s study, the majority of the couples appeared to be devoted to the traditional engagement and wedding ceremonies that included healing the knees and gifting an engagement ring with a diamond. The research also tells that nearly 40% of the men proposed with a man-made diamond ring.
Why do customers prefer man-made diamonds?
One can think that the price is a core reason for such a choice. Indeed, there is a piece of evidence confirming this idea. One of them is a comparative stand accenting the difference in price between natural diamonds, which were a dream for couples for a long time, and man-made diamonds gaining momentum now. Currently, the gap in price can reach up to 80 % and it is indeed a convincing factor. Yet, it is far from being a single motivation.
Personalization potential
Due to the study mentioned above, around 60% of proposers felt the need to make an “extremely unique proposal”. The uniqueness of the proposal implies a unique engagement ring. The Madestones’ jewelers confirmed that the custom design of engagement man-made diamond rings was one of the top offers in 2024. And it is also the case for the other jewelry gifts. Jewelers share that sometimes they felt a little challenged with a need to respond creatively to customers’ demands; they were not ready for such a huge number of emotions and senses with which people were coming to them. Luckily, man-made diamonds are easy to customize.
Ethical sourcing
In light of modern ecological challenges, sustainable awareness becomes closely integrated into all spheres of human life. The majority of people who choose man-made diamonds do this because of environmental thinking. Diamonds made by man in the laboratory setting without any need to dig or harm the Earth suits well for the most important event in people’s life. A wedding is a process of creation and its essence is consonant with man-made diamonds.
Devotion to the environmental theme is evident in the couples’ choice of venue. More than 70 % of weddings in 2024 took place fully or partially outdoors. Moreover, around 30% of couples incorporated eco-friendly or sustainable options into the wedding décor.
Fostered by branding
Man-made diamonds’ entering into the luxury segments was intended to catch the attention of those who like trends and brands. The majority of the couples who got married last year are GenZ-ers – top-followers of the brand items. For sure, the fact that major jewelry brands like Pandora, Blue Nile, and Grown Brilliance expanded their offering of lab-grown diamonds, played a role in raising demand for man-made diamonds in 2024.
But not least. More often celebrities wear man-made diamond jewelry and accent their choice as sustainable. Just remind Olga Kurylenko and her classic tennis necklace with a seamless row of lab-grown diamonds, Jennifer Lawrence and her lab-grown diamond jewelry from the Pandora Brilliance Collection. Small but noticeable accents, which foster the popularity of man-made diamonds.
Wedding study is a bright demonstration of social values and aspirations. Yes, we do not talk about 2024 tendencies in the past time but as a starting point for the coming few-year tendency. People have incredible aspirations and, thus, many events will occur in 2025. They have clear reasoning for choosing man-made diamonds and sales will continue growing as well.
