Small diamonds rebound in April as 1-carat prices keep slipping

Small diamonds turned higher in April even as 1-carat stones kept losing ground, creating a sharp split in the diamond market that matters to both buyers and retailers. The RapNet Diamond Index for 0.30-carat stones rose 2.6% and the 0.50-carat index gained 1.3%, while the 1-carat index fell 1.4%. The 3-carat index edged up just 0.3%, a reminder that the strongest pricing power is still concentrated in the smallest goods.

The move in smaller stones was not broad-based exuberance so much as a supply squeeze. Rapaport said the rebound reflected production cuts that reduced inventories and pulled down the number of RAPI-quality diamonds on RapNet. Listings of 0.30-carat goods fell 16% in April, while 0.50-carat offerings dropped 8%. That tightening helped support prices after steep declines through 2025, when manufacturers had already been cutting back rough buying and polished output.

The market had already shown how uneven this cycle could be. In April 2025, 0.30-carat diamonds rose 2.8% and were up 13.2% year to date, while 1-carat goods edged up 0.7% under tariff-driven pressure. At that point, increased Indian demand and a slight improvement in China were helping the small-stone segment. A year later, the pattern had reversed: larger diamonds fared better than small ones in 2025 overall, but in April 2026 they showed a more negative trend, especially in the U.S., while goods outside the United States performed more positively.

That split-market signal is the one buyers and retailers should watch. The rebound in 0.30-carat and 0.50-carat stones suggests urgency is returning to small-stone jewelry, where tighter inventories can translate quickly into firmer prices. The continued weakness in 1-carat goods, by contrast, still points to a more attractive value window for shoppers looking for larger center stones without paying last month’s levels.

India’s manufacturing downturn helps explain why the pressure has lasted. Reuters reported that India, the world’s largest cutting and polishing hub, handles nine out of every 10 diamonds processed globally, yet its cut and polished diamond exports fell 16.8% to $13.3 billion in fiscal 2024/25, a near two-decade low. De Beers Group said rough diamond trading conditions remained challenging in the first half of 2025 because of tariff-related uncertainty, cautious restocking, and surplus polished inventory in the midstream. For now, small stones are tightening while 1-carat diamonds still sag, and that divide is likely to shape pricing power in the months ahead.