Wholesale Lab-Grown Diamond Prices Drop 9% in Q3

Wholesale Price List

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.

Price Anomalies

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.

US Retailers’ Costs

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.

US Retail Prices
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.

According to Tenoris data, the best-selling LGD item in the second quarter was a 2.16-carat round E/VS1, which accounted for 20% of loose LGD sales.