Millennials and Gen Z drive more than three-quarters of US natural diamond demand. Women buying for themselves account for 31% of it, and bridal is a quarter of demand value.
The numbers
| Figure | What it measures | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31% | Women's self-purchase share of US natural diamond jewelry demandFrom a study of 18,500 US women. Jewelry bought as a gift no longer dominates. | 2025 | De Beers Diamond Acquisition Study |
| 75% | Non-bridal share of natural diamond demand valueBridal is the remaining quarter. | 2025 | De Beers Diamond Acquisition Study |
| 75%+ | Share of natural diamond demand from millennials and Gen Z14% of millennials and 11% of Gen Z bought or received natural diamond jewelry in the year. | 2025 | De Beers Diamond Acquisition Study |
| $4,063 | Average US spend on natural diamond jewelryUp 25% in a year. | 2025 | De Beers Diamond Acquisition Study |
| $4,600 | Average US engagement ring spendAt an average 1.9 carat center stone. Lab-grown averages $4,300, natural $7,000. | 2025 | The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study |
| 61% | Engagement rings with lab-grown center stonesUp from 12% in 2019, a fivefold share gain in six years. | 2025 | The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study |
What the numbers cover
De Beers studies natural diamond demand annually at scale and The Knot surveys roughly ten thousand married couples a year, so those two segments carry the best data. Whole-market demographic claims beyond them mostly trace back to small-sample blog aggregators, and we leave them out.
The pattern across both datasets: the buyer is younger, buys for herself more often, and treats bridal as one purchase among many.
All jewelry industry figures, across every category, live on the statistics almanac. Our analysis: Why 88% of engagement rings are custom · Lab-grown diamonds, by the numbers.