Marketing move pays off in US after focus on social issues

NEW YORK — Diamonds are making a comeback in the United States as more millennials fall for crystals long associated with “eternal” love.

US diamond demand hit $40 billion in 2016, up 4.4 percent from the prior year and comprising half of global diamond revenues for the first time since the 1990s, according to global diamond mining and retail giant De Beers.

The surge has come despite sluggish economic growth and overproduction of the jewels that has depressed prices, said Stephen Lussier, vice-president of marketing at De Beers.

The industry has gotten more bullish in America with the success of a marketing pivot targeted at millennials, those born between 1981 and 2000, who have shown concern for social issues, including the ethics of harvesting of diamonds from war-torn countries.

Increased demand from this key demographic has lifted sales of diamonds that cost between $1,000 and $5,000. The US, along with China and

Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Today’s slogan, “Real is rare, real is a diamond,” positions the crystals as a “symbol of authentic connection and commitment” and an antidote to all things mass-produced, according to industry lobby the Diamonds Producers Association.

Aid support

“We want to change their perception, what they think about diamonds,” said Lussier of De Beers, which is 85 percent held by Anglo American and 15 percent by the government of Botswana.

De Beers, through its Forevermark brand, provides information on diamond origins and supports the nonprofit group Women for Women International, which provides aid to women in war-torn countries.

“Millennial consumers have distinctive preferences, which in many ways diverge from previous generations,” Ashley Wallace, an analyst from Bank