New York, Oct 2 (IANS): Prices for rough diamonds -- the raw, unpolished, and uncut stones -- have dipped in 2023 as many post-pandemic consumers are shying away from luxury goods, the media reported.

According to the Zimnisky Global Rough Diamond Index, prices are the lowest they’ve been in a year. Industry analysts attribute the slump to declining sales at the jewellery counter, CNN reported.

As consumers spent less money on dining and travel during the pandemic, “people had excess money to spend on discretionary purchases", noted Paul Zimnisky, a global diamond analys.

Diamond prices have adjusted to consumers choosing services over jewellery.

People are eating out, traveling and spending money on experiences rather than luxury goods, according to analysts.

“Diamonds are a completely consumer-driven market,” CNN quoted Edahn Golan, an independent diamond analyst, as saying.

Shopper demand for diamond jewellery influences rough diamond prices and, to an extent, retail prices.

Retailers stoke consumer demand by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into advertising.

The plummeting prices follow two record-breaking years in rough diamond sales.

In 2021 and 2022, demand for natural diamond jewellery was at an all-time high, CNN reported.

“There was a parabolic move up, and now there’s a correction on the other side,” Zimnisky noted.

Industry analysts expect to see a jump in retail sales during the winter holidays and into early 2024.

The winter months are peak engagement season, and Christmas and Valentine’s Day are typically lucrative holidays for jewellery companies.

While this might lead to a small spike in rough diamond prices, “overall, we’re going to see a year-over-year decline of sales in the holiday season”, predicts David Johnson, a spokesperson for De Beers, one of the largest diamond companies in the world.