(Yicai Global) July 10 -- Rough diamond prices have fallen globally since the start of this year, but that has not impacted retail prices of the precious stones in China, Yicai Global learned from sales staff at major Chinese jewelry brands in Shanghai.

Diamond prices have dropped 6.5 percent so far in 2023 and plunged 18 percent from a record high in February 2022, China Central Television reported. But retail prices have changed little since last year, according to salespeople at Chow Tai Fook Jewellery, Leysen Jewellery, and Kimberlite Diamond.

Some stores offer discounts through promotions, including those of Chow Tai Seng Jewellery, which offers customers as much up to 15 percent off diamond products. The Tse Sui Luen Jewellery shop at the Mosaic Shanghai shopping center offers different discounts from item to item.

“Diamond prices in our store have not fallen, but have been increasing over the past two years,” a salesperson at Chow Tai Seng told Yicai Global.

The decline in rough diamond prices has also not significantly impacted the secondary market because “relatively speaking, there are not so many people who look at diamonds as an investment or a collector's item,” according to a source at secondhand fashion trading e-commerce platform Aplum.Com.

The main buyers of diamond jewelry are couples who are getting engaged or are soon to marry and those who wear such accessories daily or give them as gifts, the person from Aplum.Com noted, adding that fluctuations in rough diamond prices are unlikely to have a bearing on jewelery purchases among these groups.

Changes in rough diamond prices do not necessarily spill over into diamond jewelry prices because they are also based on other factors, including the cost of gold and other gemstones, design, labor, and brand premium, a small jeweler told Yicai Global.

It takes time for lower rough diamond prices to filter through into diamond jewelry prices even if the drop continues, the jeweler pointed out. This is because the products being sold at retail now were stocked when rough diamond prices were high, she added.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev