Diamond Market, Week 44, 2026

Listing activity nearly halved this week. New stones fell to 527,990, down 45.9% from the 975,295 that poured in during week 43, and natural stones did most of the pulling back: new natural arrivals dropped 63% to 160,072, against a 32% fall for lab-grown. Retirements slowed as well, with 361,927 stones gone, the lowest count in the three weeks this measure has been running. Fewer arrivals and fewer departures, yet the book still grew. Active inventory hit a record 50.1 million stones, up 2.1%, and total listed value edged up 0.7% to $157.1 billion.

The bigger story sits underneath, in how far apart the two origins moved. Lab-grown's median price slid 11.9% to $712, and its median per carat fell harder, down 13.9% to $336. Natural went the other way, with the median price up 11.2% to $988. But natural's median per carat only rose 1.4% to $1,798, which suggests the natural stones listed this week skewed larger rather than natural prices genuinely climbing. Natural now costs roughly 5.3 times lab-grown per carat. And despite all that churn, lab-grown share barely moved at 62.5%, still sitting inside the 61.7 to 63.5% band it's held for seven weeks.

Pricing across the market is still all over the place. The median spread on stones listed at more than one retailer came in at 132.9%, a touch below last week's 133.9% but miles above the 84.9% of week 38. Cross-retailer overlap kept falling too, reaching 41.1%, its lowest point in the seven weeks I've charted. The week's most expensive stone shows the gap in dollars: a 23.41ct D FL natural oval, GIA graded, listed at four different prices between $2.90 million and $3.46 million. That's about $557,000 between the cheapest and dearest listing for the same diamond. Listing was concentrated, too, with a handful of names supplying close to 30% of new stones.

On shapes, trillions jumped 70% to a $1,368 median, but on only 1,825 new stones I'd treat that as noise. Marquise is the move that counts. Its median rose 24.8% to $1,077 across 285,332 new listings, which is solid volume behind a solid gain. Hearts rose 18.4% to $996. Rounds remain the backbone at 40% of new shape volume, with a median of $838, well below ovals at $1,082. Stones are getting bigger, too: the median active carat reached a record 1.33, up from 1.20 seven weeks ago. The largest stone of the week was a 52.27ct lab-grown pear, H VS1, at $58,762 (roughly $1,124 a carat, for perspective).

I'm watching two things going into week 45. First, whether the slowdown in natural listings is a one week pause or the start of tighter supply heading into the holiday season. Second, whether lab-grown's per carat slide keeps going, because a 14% drop in a single week is notable and rarely happens in isolation. For buyers, the spread data matters more than any price move. With the same stone often listed at wildly different prices, comparing across retailers will save you far more than trying to time the market. If you're shopping lab-grown, a little patience looks like it'll be rewarded.

Diamond Market Charts, Week 44, 2026 (26 October to 2 November 2026)

The five charts below summarise what the diamond market did during 26 October to 2 November 2026. Each is a static image you can save or share. Together they cover where prices sit today, how inventory is moving, the lab-grown versus natural mix, where retailers raised or cut prices, and how much the same stone can vary across competing sellers.

Lucy Market Index

Ten numbers I record every snapshot.

Versus Week 43, 2026

Biggest shape movers

Recent trends

How metrics are tracking across the recent window of snapshots.

How the Lucy Market Index has moved

By origin

Top shapes by new listings

Notable stones

Each stone links to its full Carat Hunter listing.