1-carat diamond suddenly drops to just over 1,000? A large number of consumers are crying in regret: if they had bought a year earlier, they would have lost tens of thousands!

I used to think that 1-carat diamonds were the “luxury threshold,” with any piece costing tens of thousands of yuan, especially for those who bought their wedding rings a few years ago, often spending at least 30,000 to 50,000 yuan. But now, walking through jewelry markets, I find that a 1-carat diamond can actually be bought for just over 1,000 yuan. When this news spread, many early buyers who paid high prices started complaining, regretting they bought too early, feeling they essentially threw away several tens of thousands of yuan.

Not all 1-carat diamonds can be sold at high prices; the key still lies in the diamond’s 4Cs—Carat weight, Cut, Color, and Clarity. These four parameters directly determine the quality and price of a diamond, with Carat weight having the most significant impact, followed by Cut and Color, while Clarity has the least effect.

Here’s a set of real data to give a more intuitive sense of price changes. According to the latest 2026 wholesale diamond prices, the price range for 1-carat diamonds varies greatly: entry-level 1-carat diamonds (Color J or below, Clarity SI2 or below, Cut G) are priced between 1,200 and 2,500 yuan; mid-quality ones (Color G-H, Clarity VS2-SI1, Cut 3EX) range from 10,000 to 28,000 yuan; high-quality diamonds (Color D-F, Clarity VS1 or above, Cut 3EX) still sell for 22,000 to 50,000 yuan. Back in 2022, even entry-level 1-carat diamonds were priced between 8,000 and 12,000 yuan. In just four years, the price for entry-level diamonds has dropped by over 70%.

There are two main reasons for this sharp decline: changes in market supply and demand, and the rise of lab-grown diamonds. From the supply side, global diamond mining in 2024 increased by 5.7%, reaching 117.95 million carats, while global diamond exports fell by 16.8%. The oversupply has directly driven prices down. De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, has repeatedly lowered prices since 2024—by 10% for rough diamonds in January, and by 10-15% for secondary market roughs in December. In 2025, prices for rough diamonds over 0.75 carats were again reduced by 0.75%, with bargaining ranges between 10% and 15%.

More critically, the rise of lab-grown diamonds has directly squeezed the mid-to-lower end of the natural diamond market. Data shows that in 2024, China produced about 22 million carats of lab-grown diamonds, a 144.44% increase year-over-year, accounting for 63% of the global total. By 2025, lab-grown diamonds accounted for over 40% of global sales, more than eight times the 2019 figure. Lab-grown diamonds can match the quality of natural diamonds and are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, but their prices are only one-fifth or even less of natural diamonds. The price of a high-quality 1-carat lab-grown diamond has fallen from 8,000 yuan in 2020 to around 3,500 yuan now, with entry-level models costing just over 1,000 yuan. This is a major reason for the overall decline in 1-carat diamond prices.

Many consumers regret buying early, not only because prices have fallen but also because the value retention of diamonds is far below expectations. The rules of the second-hand diamond market are clear: resale value depends solely on the diamond’s 4Cs, not on brand premiums or processing fees paid at purchase. For an average 1-carat natural diamond of mid-quality, the resale price is only 30-50% of the original purchase price. For entry-level 1-carat diamonds, resale value can be less than 1,000 yuan. Some netizens shared that a 1-carat ring bought for 18,000 yuan ten years ago can now only fetch about 180 yuan from buyers—a 99% depreciation. Others spent 100,000 yuan on a high-quality 1-carat ring, and now its resale value is only around 30,000 yuan.

Here’s a professional concept to understand—“Carat premium.” This is a common trap many buyers fall into. Among the 4Cs, carat weight impacts price in an “exponential” manner, especially for whole carats like 1 or 2 carats, where scarcity sharply increases. For example, a diamond with the same Cut (3EX), Color G, and Clarity VS2, weighs 0.9 carats and costs about 12,000 yuan, while a 1.0-carat diamond of the same quality can cost as much as 35,000 to 40,000 yuan. Doubling the weight results in roughly a threefold increase in price, even though visually, the size difference between 0.9 and 1.0 carats is almost indistinguishable.