By: SEO Mavens
The Australian diamond market according to Jeweller Magazine is peripheral when looked at from a global perspective as the market consists of a population count of about 26 million consumers catered for by an approximate 3,500 jewelry stores. Most Australian diamond industry players are currently leaning towards natural diamonds citing the quality-conscious Australian market.
Nevertheless, as far as industry players are concerned the Australian diamond market is among the interesting markets to monitor due to the consumer dynamics of Down Under. As similar the Australian diamond market is to the US diamond market, the Australian diamond market has its differences. According to Craig Miller of JC Jewels based in Melbourne, the rise of lab grown diamonds within the Australian market is largely attributed to consumer budgets more than anything else, in other words, it was a phase, which according to Jewellers Magazine has passed.
Although the synthetics have claimed a small percentage of the market, the ‘claim’ is negligible as far as a significant number of Australian jewelers are concerned. Recently Rapaport indicated that Australian jewelers are split in their opinions on the market with about under 40% of Australian jewelers agreeing to the statement that synthetic diamond jewelry is critical to their business and has been so for the past decade.
On the other hand the remaining jewelers and wholesalers of diamonds australia disagreed with the statement. Rapaport News recently reported that the boom of lab-grown in Australia has all but eased due to the falling prices of lab grown diamonds and questionable quality of synthetics.
The natural diamond market in Australia mainly focuses on the D to F color range that fall between VS2 and SI2 clarity categories, said Simon West who is the director of a diamond jewelry retail store in Melbourne. According to West, there was a time when diamonds with higher levels were preferred, however as consumers have better understanding of diamonds and have sufficient knowledge to choose clarity levels that camouflage flaws well enough.
The fact is that Australian consumers in general have soft spots for products that are and the average consumer prioritizes quality above all else which renders high-end excellent quality handmade jewelry a preference.
Another factor that gave the lab grown diamond a push forward was the greater focus Australians place on the environment and responsible sourcing. Lab grown diamonds rode the ‘environmentally friendly wave’ up to the point when reports emerged on the amount of energy needed to create these stones.
Consumers, especially Australian consumers particularly more often than not seek information related to the origin of the product before buying it and given the strict regulations linked to natural diamonds the demand curve is slowly returning to how it was prior to the pandemic which has had a tremendous impact on the industry ranging from over buying and high inventories that are yet to be unloaded. The expectation is that things will turn around for Australian retailers by the end of the year or early next year.
Published by: Holy Minoza
