While everything Marilyn Monroe is bona fide timeless, her sultry rendition of ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’ hasn’t aged quite as well. Not because of Marilyn of course. The blame solely lies on the diamonds. Everyone thought that the diamond’s bright future was set in stone. But it’s turning out to be a very different story. And a very complicated one too with changes happening at every level. Increased volume of production brought the value of the diamond down by 26% from 2010 to 2019. Rough diamond imports rose in India but polished diamonds export fell nearly 13% over the decade. But these are all technical details that shouldn’t really affect how valuable, or rather invaluable they would be to the wearer of a diamond. The sales were dropping despite the value drop.

A quick search on google on the state of the diamond industry will throw up articles after articles of why diamonds are no longer an object of desire with millennials. This is by no means a recent turn of event . For nearly a decade, the diamond industry has been ‘declining at an alarming rate’ as cited by one article. A Diamond Research & Data website that mapped google searches for diamond jewelry, saw a fall of 44% from its peak in 2010. There was a serious disinterest in diamonds and it had a lot to do with what the diamond stood for.

While everything Marilyn Monroe is bona fide timeless, her sultry rendition of ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’ hasn’t aged quite as well. Not because of Marilyn of course. The blame solely lies on the diamonds. Everyone thought that the diamond’s bright future was set in stone. But it’s turning out to be a very different story. And a very complicated one too with changes happening at every level. Increased volume of production brought the value of the diamond down by 26% from 2010 to 2019. Rough diamond imports rose in India but polished diamonds export fell nearly 13% over the decade. But these are all technical details that shouldn’t really affect how valuable, or rather invaluable they would be to the wearer of a diamond. The sales were dropping despite the value drop. <div class="flourish-embed" data-src="story/556611" data-url="https://flo.uri.sh/story/556611/embed" A quick search on google on the state of the diamond industry will throw up articles after articles of why diamonds are no longer an object of desire with millennials. This is by no means a recent turn of event . For nearly a decade, the diamond industry has been ‘declining at an alarming rate’ as cited by one article. A Diamond Research & Data website that mapped google searches for diamond jewelry, saw a fall of 44% from its peak in 2010. There was a serious disinterest in diamonds and it had a lot to do with what the diamond stood for. LAB-GROWN DIAMONDS: FIT FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER Changing attitude towards marriage, being socially and ecologically responsible and most importantly, redefining what millennials consider luxury were all key factors in the diamond losing its luster. The diamond needed a change in more ways than one. When we set out to create a brand for New York-based RIAM Group’s lab-grown diamonds, the consumer sentiment just didn’t seem in our favor. We listened everywhere we could, and took in consideration what the intended wearer were unequivocally telling us with their searches.

We decided that instead of trying to be something the diamond no longer needed to be, we had to create a brand that the consumer wished for, but never found. The first thing we did was change the narrative around lab-grown diamonds, infusing them with luxury and modern aspiration. Bigger in size, highest standards in diamond quality and modern aesthetics made them the best choice for the discerning customer. On top of that, lab-grown diamonds are earth-conscious which fit right in with our wearer’s ethos. ALTR, as we called it, became a mirror to the current diamond industry and showed it a future full of new desire and excitement. As a tech-infused, future-facing brand it took upon itself to expand the industry’s horizons. To do that we also reimagined our wearer. Tapping into the importance of self-worth, we created a platform that changed the spotlight from the diamond to the wearer.