India’s lab-grown diamond exports just doubled in 1 year 7.8M → 15.3M carats🤯 How? It’s cutting skill + low-cost power + CVD scale + policy support. Unlike mined diamonds, most value is created in India. The lab-grown diamond factory of the world is being built here!

As a founder, I see this as both a market correction and a creative opening. If grading language defines our perception of diamonds, maybe it’s time we shape our own, rooted in progress & transparency. Because lab-grown diamonds aren’t losing value. They’re finding identity. 💎

However, let’s not forget that in 2020, GIA adopted the 4Cs for lab-grown diamonds to enhance credibility. Five years later, they’ve rolled it back. And that's now the best thing about Lab Grown Diamonds.

Economically, the logic holds. Lab-grown prices have fallen below $300/ct in some categories. Margins are thin, and detailed certification doesn’t always add value. A simplified grading model aligns with where the economics are headed.

This isn’t just a grading update, it’s an ideological reset. By reseparating lab-grown diamonds from natural ones, GIA is reaffirming that natural stones are a rare luxury, while lab-grown diamonds are precision-made products. The market narrative just changed.

Here’s how the new system works: Premium = the very best (D colour, VVS clarity, excellent cut). Standard = everything above the minimum threshold. Anything below that? No grade at all. Simple. Efficient. But also a signal of repositioning.

GIA says 95% of lab-grown diamonds today fall within the same narrow band of colour and clarity, making the old 4C distinctions “no longer relevant.” In other words, technology made quality too consistent for nuance to matter.

In October 2025, GIA is officially retired the 4Cs for lab-grown diamonds. From now on, every lab-grown stone will be graded as either “Premium” or “Standard.” Media is rarely talking about it, but this could be defining for our industry. 🧵

To make things worse, the U.S. left loopholes open. “Legacy” Russian diamonds mined before 2024 are still allowed. So, American importers got cheaper stones, while European ones were bogged down in red tape.

Meanwhile, Antwerp’s small traders faced fines of up to €40M if they mis declared origins. Many were unable to move inventory or access credit. Antwerp’s diamond trade dropped 35% in early 2025 before all sanctions even took effect.

While Antwerp froze, Russia’s Alrosa adapted fast. It redirected sales to China, India, and Dubai, offering discounts of 15–20%. It even began selling in roubles, quietly building a non-dollar trade network for diamonds.

But why so much chaos? Because traceability tech still isn’t perfect. Even advanced testing can’t pinpoint a diamond’s exact mine, only its region. So the system still relies on paperwork and declarations. Basically, a bureaucratic trust exercise.

Shipments that once cleared in a day now take over a week. Billions worth of diamonds got stuck in customs. 100+ firms warned the EU this system “threatens Antwerp’s 600-year-old diamond industry.”

As of March 2025, every diamond above 0.5 carat headed to G7 countries must pass through a single verification centre in Antwerp, Belgium. The goal? To trace origins and block Russian stones. The result? A global traffic jam.

The G7 wanted to punish Russia by banning its diamonds. But instead, it ended up breaking Antwerp, the world’s diamond capital and reshaping global trade in just 18 months. 🧵

China is a signal to Global markets, shift in cultural values and loss of store value in natural diamonds is hitting the space hard. So I feel diamonds are forever only if they align with the changing values of people across the globe.

Additionally, the real estate crisis, Demographic ageing, and Youth unemployment are forcing the country to stay away from luxury. These cultural and economic factors are driving significant shifts in China and, ultimately, the global diamond supply chain.

But how did this crisis even start? 1/ Loss of ‘Store of Value’ in Diamonds. 2/ The growing belief in “luxury indigenisation” is pushing diamonds away, while gold & jade, tied deeply to Confucian heritage, regain prominence. 3/ Rise of LGDs as a more affordable alternative.

China’s diamond retreat triggered a global price correction between 25–35% for natural diamonds, equivalent to a $7–8 billion market value loss. This oversupply from global inventory dumps reduced margins on all polished goods, natural or otherwise.

Chinese retailers flooded these diamonds to the global market via Hong Kong, creating an reverse supply chain. De Beers’ EVP Paul Rowley called it “perhaps even more concerning than weak demand” Because it flooded a market already holding 18 months of unsold diamond inventory.