According to the Natural Diamond Council (NDC), natural diamond jewellery ownership among Indian women has increased by 4 percentage points from 11% in 2022 to 15% in 2025. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, this growth reflects rising aspiration, accessibility, and desirability for natural diamonds in India. The category's resilience is being driven significantly by younger consumers, with Gen Z and Millennials now accounting for 86% of India's total natural diamond market value. These demographics increasingly view natural diamonds as symbols of individuality, authenticity, and emotional meaning, with consumers spending an average of ₹1,98,000 per piece.
India has emerged as the world's second-largest diamond jewellery market, contributing 12% of global diamond jewellery demand, up from 10% in 2019, surpassing both China and Japan. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the domestic natural diamond jewellery market continues to witness strong growth momentum. The Indian market is further projected to grow at a 12% CAGR, reaching ₹1.52 lakh crore by 2030. Leading jewellery retailers are reporting that the natural diamond category is consistently outpacing overall market growth, with Malabar Gold & Diamonds Chairman MP Ahammed stating that diamond studded jewellery sales were up 45% during the Akshaya Tritiya period this year, while P N Gadgil reported their diamond segment grew at a remarkable 61% year-on-year.
The lab-grown diamond industry has long sought to position its product as the more environmentally friendly alternative to natural diamonds, with varying success as it gained market share and established itself in the mainstream jewellery market. However, recent developments have highlighted a shift in this dynamic. Pandora announced it would begin publishing carbon footprint disclosures alongside traditional 4Cs grading information for its lab-grown diamonds, claiming a 1-carat Pandora lab-grown diamond generates 12.58 kilograms of CO2-equivalent emissions, about 90% lower than a mined diamond of the same size. The Natural Diamond Council quickly dismissed this move as a publicity stunt, arguing that Pandora relied on outdated data and that such comparisons are inaccurate. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints filed by the NDC against Novita Diamonds and Linjer Ltd for advertising synthetic diamonds without clearly identifying them as laboratory grown, ruling that such ads breached advertising rules by describing the products simply as 'diamonds' without a sufficiently prominent qualifier.
As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, Natural Diamond Council Managing Director Richa Singh noted that natural diamond ownership among Indian women has grown from 11% to 15% in just three years. She emphasized that for a growing number of Indian women, natural diamond represents a deliberate choice, real, rare, and made to be passed on. The Natural Diamond Council has successfully pursued similar complaints against other jewellers in 2024, with the UK's National Association of Jewellers referencing the Diamond Terminology Guideline as its primary authority, requiring that synthetic diamonds be described using terms such as synthetic, laboratory-grown or laboratory-created. The African Diamond Producers Association has called for exclusive use of the 4Cs grading system and carat measurements for natural diamonds, arguing that lab-grown products should instead be labelled simply as 'synthetic' and measured in grams or kilograms. With India's personal disposable income projected to grow by 11% annually, the natural diamond is uniquely positioned to remain the definitive standard for luxury.
