☕ De Beers blinks, diamond prices perk up, and Kendra Scott goes full Shark. Tuesday, July 14

Good morning, jewel crew. The trade is still chewing on De Beers doing the thing everyone swore it would never do: cutting its official prices to meet the market where it actually lives. Pour the coffee, this one matters for your case.

De Beers rolled out some of the deepest cuts to its official diamond prices in memory at its July sales cycle, the first sale under new supply agreements that trimmed the sightholder roster from roughly 70 buyers to between 45 and 50 (about 25 elite clients got shown the door). Official prices had been running anywhere from 5% to 50% above secondary market levels depending on the category. They now sit much closer to reality, with the sharpest cuts landing on goods smaller than 0.75 carats.

The why is a familiar cocktail: soft Chinese luxury demand, lab-grown diamonds gobbling share, and producers like Angola happily selling rough at actual market prices. One wrinkle: nobody outside the sight knows exactly how deep the cuts go, because De Beers switched to one-line invoicing this year, handing buyers a single total instead of itemized prices per box.

For indie jewelers, cheaper rough now usually means softer replacement costs on natural melee and smaller centers within a few months, which is margin relief in the pipeline if natural is part of your story. It is also a signal that the world's most famous price-setter is playing defense, so expect the natural diamond category marketing push to keep ramping. Free tailwind, take it.

Plot twist: while De Beers cuts official prices, the actual market is firming. PriceScope's July report shows positive movement across every round carat range it tracks, building on a turn that began in May. Rapaport says the small-stone recovery accelerated in June, with its RAPI index up 4.2% for 0.30 carat diamonds and half carats climbing sharply too.

If you have been sitting on natural inventory bought during the 2024 and 2025 slump, the floor may finally be underneath you. Worth re-costing your estate and memo goods before fall buying season, and worth holding a little firmer on natural pricing in the case. The "diamonds only go down" customer talking point just got weaker.

New York designer Stephanie Gottlieb, long a natural diamond name, announced two lab-grown lines this week: Lola, under her SG Fine label, and Casual Carats, a set of 20 rings with lab-grown diamonds in assorted cuts set in 14k yellow gold inside colorful silicone bands.

Another high-profile designer going two-lane (natural for milestones, lab-grown for fashion and fun) validates what many of you are already doing in the case. The silicone band angle is the merchandising cue: casual, giftable, impulse-friendly product is where lab-grown margins still behave. If your lab-grown story is only bridal, you are leaving the fun money on the table.

Gold has been trading around $4,100 per ounce, well off the record near $4,736 set in January, though still up more than 25% since early 2025.

Two to-dos: first, your scrap buy rates and trade-in math were probably set during the spike, so give them a fresh look before the spread eats you. Second, if a custom quote scared someone off when gold was flirting with $4,700, a friendly "metal prices came down, want me to requote that?" call is about the easiest win in retail.

ABC promoted Kendra Scott to permanent Shark for season 18 of Shark Tank, airing Wednesdays this fall. It is her fifth season on the show but her first as a full-timer, and she joins venture capitalist Rashaun Williams, also newly permanent.

A billion-dollar jewelry founder in America's living room every single week is free category marketing, and it keeps the "founder-led jewelry brand" story in the cultural bloodstream. Steal the playbook: your founding story belongs on your about page, your socials, and your sales floor script. People buy jewelry from people.

That's the brew for this Tuesday. De Beers met the market, the market met it right back, and somewhere a former sightholder is polishing a resume instead of rough. Go sell something sparkly. ☕
— Karat Clark, Carats & Coffee