Small Stones Lead the Polished Recovery While Rough Keeps Resetting

De Beers' average selling price sits at $110/ct in Q2, down roughly 37% year over year. This is a quarterly, backward-looking figure, but it shows that the rough reset is still working through the pipeline even as polished stabilizes.

RAPI rose this month at the low end: 0.50 ct goods gained 2.52%, while 1 ct goods rose 0.63%. The recovery is real but concentrated in smaller goods, so price larger, finer stones against actual bids, not just the index.

The dollar firmed this week against both key manufacturing currencies (USD/INR +1.13% to 95.56, USD/ILS +1.25% to 3.05), raising local costs for USD-priced rough but improving converted export receipts. India's polished exports were down 18.2% YoY in July, so the pipeline is still running lean. Gold held near $4,390/oz, down 0.43% on the month.

Surat's lab-grown association is pressing for pricing discipline as manufacturer margins tighten, a sign that the lab-grown diamond glut is now squeezing producers, not just the retail shelf.

Jewellery & Gem WORLD Hong Kong opens this week (AsiaWorld-Expo, Sep 14–18; HKCEC, Sep 16–20), offering the season's first real read on Asian restocking demand.