Since the beginning of the year, diamond prices have declined very slightly, as reported in IDEX's Polished Diamonds Price Index. While the diamond market is subdued, it should be noted over the past four years, polished diamond prices have been very stable and that, during the 48 months of our reporting, they have decreased just a little more than two percent.
As usual in the summer months, the diamond trade takes its business volume down a good few notches. As such, there were no surprises, i.e. no significant price changes of polished diamonds.
Therefore, this is as good a moment as any other to offer a positive comment and draw attention to the long-term perspective of the price developments of polished diamonds. While there has been a very slight decline in prices of diamonds across the board, diamond prices have overall been performing satisfactorily over the past years, different from other commodities.
There are several reasons for that. Commenting on the diamond market, Ronnie VanderLinden, President of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), said that "the US economy is still pulling the cart. And still, the market for polished, while subdued, is working [and in the USA] retail sales are rising. We trust jewelry will soon follow suit. It's not August yet. In September, we'll start the annual race to the holiday sales season. I am reasonably sure that we'll do much better than the market currently suggests!"