Diamond Market, Week 41, 2026

Stones came off the market at nearly double last week's pace. 254,628 listings went off market in week 41, up 85% on week 40 and the highest count in the six weeks I've been charting. Naturals drove it. Natural removals jumped from 25,189 to 109,248, more than four times the prior week, while lab-grown removals rose a more modest 30% to 145,358. New listings cooled at the same time, down 19% to 3.7 million, so active inventory slipped 0.7% to 46.3 million. A small dip. But it's the first time the pool has shrunk since it started climbing from 33.4 million in week 35.

Prices firmed alongside it. The median listing reached $1,088, up 4.1% and a high for the window, and median price per carat rose 4.5% to $851. Don't read that as a broad rally, though. Per carat is still well short of the $931 to $932 seen in weeks 35 and 38, and the lift came almost entirely from naturals: median price up 12.9% to $1,405, per carat up 11.6% to $2,477. Lab-grown went the other way. Its median fell 4.3% to $922 and its per carat price dropped 21.7% to $351. When natural removals surge and natural prices rise in the same week, my read is that cheaper natural stock cleared out (whether sold or simply pulled) and left a dearer mix behind. Lab-grown share eased to 62.6% from 63.5%, still inside the 61.7 to 63.8% band it's held all along.

The spread story keeps getting louder. The median cross-retailer spread hit 122%, up from 110% last week and a record for the window. In week 36 it was 72%. Overlap barely moved at 45.1%, so this isn't a change in which stones are shared; it's the same stones being priced further apart. The top end shows it plainly. One 21.51ct E VVS2 lab-grown emerald appeared at $3,106,084 and again at $2,677,658, and a 70.83ct I VS2 lab-grown emerald showed up at both $85,579 and $99,271. That big emerald works out to roughly $1,200 a carat, against more than $144,000 a carat for the smaller one. Same origin, same shape. Lab-grown pricing at the very top remains anyone's guess.

Fancy shapes split down the middle. Marquise rose 17.9% to a $1,154 median and heart climbed 18.4% to $1,129. Princess fell 18.2% to $929, cushion dropped 16.8% to $1,360, and oval slid 14.5% to $1,154 on a hefty 531,711 new listings. Oval and marquise now share almost exactly the same median, which would have sounded odd a week ago. Round still dominates supply at 39.6% of new listings, with a $931 median. The "other" bucket jumped 131%, but on just 10,513 listings I'm treating that as noise. Supply stayed reasonably spread out, too; the five busiest listers accounted for 32.7% of everything new.

Going into week 42, I'm watching natural removals. If they stay anywhere near this level, the firmer natural pricing is real rather than a one week mix effect. I also want to see whether the spread finally plateaus or pushes higher again. For buyers, the read is practical. With the typical gap between listings of the same stone this wide, checking a stone across retailers before you commit is worth more right now than it has been at any point in this run. And if you're shopping lab-grown, $351 a carat at the median is a big step down from last week's $449. Oval buyers had a good week as well.

Diamond Market Charts, Week 41, 2026 (5 to 12 October 2026)

The five charts below summarise what the diamond market did during 5 to 12 October 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.

Counted listing rows; from October 12, 2026 we count new stones.

Versus Week 40, 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

Counted listing rows; from October 12, 2026 we count new stones.

Top shapes by new listings

Notable stones

Each stone links to its full Carat Hunter listing.