Editor’s Note
This article highlights a significant downturn in the lab-grown diamond market, with wholesale prices falling sharply in Q3 2025. The data underscores the rapid price deflation and increasing affordability within the sector.
According to Edahn Golan’s LGD Wholesale Price List, wholesale trading prices for lab-grown diamonds fell an additional 37% year on year in the third quarter of 2025. Wholesale prices declined 9% quarter on quarter.
The largest price declines were seen in 3-carat rounds, which plummeted 43% year over year.
Technically, lab diamonds are two distinct products with two different origins. One is created using the more expensive Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technology, mostly in India. The alternate technology, called High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT), is almost solely produced in China and is cheaper to produce.
The smaller, better color/clarity lab-grown diamonds are predominantly HPHT. As a result, better color/clarity 1-carat rounds are currently trading at a lower wholesale price than lower color/clarity CVD stones. Usually, it’s the other way around. This is something retailers should be aware of.
Other current price trends include price hikes. This is not entirely new, although it is more common than it was previously. This is especially noticeable in fancy forms, where 1-carat oval shapes are in high demand, driving prices up 3% compared to Q2 2025.
The LGD Wholesale Price List reflects wholesale market trade, not retail costs. The average retail cost of a round, 1-carat IGI-certified LGD was $178 per carat in Q3.
At the same time, retailers cut their costs by a third in the previous year.
Wholesalers and retailers enjoy exceptionally high gross margins on lab-grown diamonds. US jewelry retailers charge large markups on LGD prices, resulting in an average gross margin of 79% for 1-3 carat rounds.
