One of One Project aims to win Gen Z for natural diamonds

The natural-diamond trade is trying a sharper argument for younger buyers: not just that natural stones are rare, but that rarity can be tied to identity, provenance and design meaning. The One of One Project emerged from a Summit Dinner on May 30 at JCK Las Vegas, where manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and influencers began shaping a coordinated response to the rise of lab-grown diamonds and the shifting tastes of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers.

The group’s roster shows how broad that response is. Members named in the project include SRK Diamonds, RDI Diamonds, Del Gatto Finance Group, House of Diamonds, Khepri Jewels, the International Gemological Institute, Pristine Gems and Rapaport, with additional participants from across manufacturing, wholesale, retail and related sectors. At a June 11 event hosted by Khepri Jewels in New York City, members discussed why so many younger consumers were choosing lab-grown diamonds and what the natural-diamond business has to say in return.

That conversation matters because the old language of natural-diamond marketing often stopped at romance and tradition. The One of One Project is trying to translate scarcity into something more immediate for younger shoppers, who tend to compare stones side by side and want a reason that feels personal, not simply inherited. In practice, that means leaning into individuality, authenticity and the idea that a natural diamond is not interchangeable with anything else, even before the shopper gets to the setting, the cut or the carat weight.

De Beers’ latest U.S. consumer research gives the trade more ammunition. Based on a study of 18,500 women in the U.S. market, the company said natural diamonds are the most desired luxury jewelry product, average purchase prices rose 25%, Gen Z is now the second-largest generation buying diamonds, and non-bridal occasions account for three-quarters of overall U.S. demand. That last figure is especially telling: the strongest growth story is no longer confined to engagement rings, but to self-purchase and gifting, where meaning and styling carry more weight.

The pressure point is price. Natural Diamond Council reporting says Gen Z and Millennials together account for more than three-quarters of U.S. natural diamond sales, yet its 2025 data also shows the value of a 1.5-carat laboratory-grown diamond falling 83% over nine years. De Beers has said global natural-diamond supply is declining and that no new mines have been discovered in the past decade. The One of One Project is betting that those facts, paired with better storytelling, can turn scarcity from an abstract claim into a reason to buy.