Experts have revealed diamonds are falling out favour with newly-engaged couples who are choosing emeralds and rubies instead.
Analysts at retail data company, Kantar Retail, have revealed that couples are now spending their hard-earned cash getting on the housing ladder rather than purchasing diamonds.
Anusha Couttigane, a senior analyst at the firm, told The Sunday Telegraph, “A generation of marital-age people are now prioritising other things such as weddings, housing, and the cost of having children rather than splashing out on a really expensive ring. There is still a lot of demand for solitaire diamond rings, but there has been growth in non-traditional designs which use a range of cheaper, coloured stones too.”
Her comments come after research published last year by insurance company Allianz showed that men spend £573 on average on an engagement ring – £3,082 less than the suggested “two month salary” rule, as originally suggested by jewellery company De Beers in their famous advertising campaign.
The research also revealed one in five women can expect to receive a more expensive ring, costing between £750 and £3,000 or more.
A rise in ethical shopping is also said to be contributing to the drop in sales, according to the newspaper.
This was highlighted in 2010 when Livia Firth, wife of actor Colin Firth, launched the Green Carpet Challenge with journalist Lucy Siegle – a challenge to only wear ethical dresses on red carpets as the pair attended movie premieres and events.
The challenge has since grown into a communications brand which seeks to “raise the profile of sustainability, ethics and social welfare”, according to its website.
It has also created a sustainable standard that designers can adhere to.
In 2013, the brand launched its first Green Carpet Challenge capsule collection with online retailer, Net-A-Porter, where five British designers sold two gowns each that complied with the ethical standards set out by the brand.
Luxury jewellery designer, Chopard, quickly jumped on board with the challenge, and launched their first high-end ‘Green Carpet Collection’ range, featuring ethically sourced diamonds.
The brand also became the world’s first luxury watch and jewellery company to enable mining communities to gain a Fairmined gold certification.