The State of the Diamond Industry
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009It’s a strange thing. The past few years have brought a new degree of genuine “commodity type” behavior for diamonds. Declining value of the US dollar triggered large and consistent increases in the value of most stones, as it did with other commodities. A weakening global economy and subsequent strengthening of US currency precipitated declines in diamond values.
Now we have banks calling notes so diamond manufacturers are forced to liquidate inventory just to stay solvent. This desperate attempt to exercise inventory coupled with the publics’ scramble to pawn engagement rings for cash has brought about a bit of a glut in product… especially for certain shapes and sizes.
However, the freeze in capital has also halted manufacturers’ ability to produce new inventory.
My goal as a New England based B&M and national online discount retailer of full cut certified diamonds… buy as much as possible at substantial discount of the bread and butter 1-3 carat goods, preferably certified, and hold until things turn around.
I hope we see things start to mend in 6-12 months, but this very well could be a 2-4 year correction. Whether the global markets genuinely heal or inflation hits, I figure we as a company will be primed to make great margin on what we bought “very right” now.
