Report: Lab-grown diamonds reach 51% of new engagement rings in 2026

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For the first time, more than half of newly appraised engagement rings hold a lab-grown center stone. That is the headline finding of The BriteCo Jewelry, Diamond & Watch Price Index 2026, the first edition of a new annual report from BriteCo, a leading jewelry and watch insurance provider.

The index draws on real jewelry and watch appraisals recorded from January 2019 through June 2026, across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Its 60 charts cover engagement rings, wedding bands, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants, eternity and anniversary bands, fancy colored diamonds, colored gemstones, precious metals, and luxury watches, with state-by-state breakdowns, seasonal patterns, and projections through 2028. The index will be updated every year.

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Key Takeaways

• Lab-grown diamonds appeared in 51% of newly appraised engagement rings from January through June 2026, up from 6% in 2019.
• Engagement rings had a median sales price of $6,939 in 2025. The median appraised value, the insurance replacement value, was $9,676.
• Natural diamond engagement rings had a median sales price of $12,961 in 2025, versus $4,557 for lab-grown.
• The median engagement ring center stone doubled in size, from 1.01 carats in 2019 to 2.0 carats in 2025.
• Yellow gold overtook white gold as America’s jewelry metal, 39% to 38% in 2025. White gold held 51% in 2019.

Two Prices for Every Piece of Jewelry

Every piece in the index carries two numbers, and the difference between them is the report’s foundation. Sales price is what buyers typically paid, estimated from thousands of real sales recorded alongside appraisals.

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Appraised value is the insurance replacement value, what it would cost to replace the piece at retail today. The appraised value is typically higher than the sales price to account for inflation, sales tax, or discounts provided at the time of sale. In 2025, the median engagement ring sales price was $6,939 while the median appraised value was $9,676.

A projections section extends the engagement ring trends through 2028.

The Lab-Grown Tipping Point

Lab-grown adoption climbed every year of the index, from 6% of engagement rings in 2019 to 47% in 2025 and 51% in the first half of 2026. Prices moved the opposite direction. The median lab-grown diamond sales price fell from $4,622 per carat in 2019 to $2,057 in 2025, while natural diamonds ran $8,428 per carat in 2025 compared to $6,237 in 2019. The result is two markets at very different price levels: a median natural diamond engagement ring sold for $12,961 in 2025, while a lab-grown ring went for $4,557.

Bigger Stones, Different Gold

Falling lab-grown prices coincided with a doubling of the typical center stone, from 1.01 carats in 2019 to 2.0 carats in 2025. Metal preferences shifted just as sharply. White gold fell from 51% of jewelry pieces in 2019 to 38% in 2025, letting yellow gold take the lead at 39%, while platinum grew from 11% to 16%.

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Watches Tell the Other Half of the Story

The median watch sales price was $8,442 in 2025, against a median appraised value of $11,000. The gap depends heavily on brand: Across the full data window, Rolex watches had a median sales price of $10,081 and a median appraised value of $13,900. The watch section breaks down prices by brand, movement, case material, and complications.

Well Beyond the Engagement Ring

The index gives the same treatment to the rest of the jewelry box. Among the gift categories, wedding bands had the highest median sales price in 2025 at $7,252, and December is the strongest month for jewelry shopping in the complete-year data. Yellow leads the fancy colored diamonds, while blue sapphire tops the colored gemstones.

Methodology

The Jewelry, Diamond & Watch Price Index of 2026 is built from anonymized jewelry and watch appraisals created with BriteCo’s appraisal tools from Jan. 1, 2019 through June 2026, with jewelry market research grounded in real jewelry appraisal data rather than surveys. 2026 figures cover January through June.

This story was produced by BriteCo and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.