A survey conducted by the Diamond Producers Association (DPA), which is composed of leading global diamond miners, found that so-called Millennials (people born from 1980 onwards) are almost twice as likely as non-Millennials to have acquired diamond jewelry as a gift for the holiday season.
The DPA said that just over 30% of men planned to give diamond jewelry to their wife or girlfriend this holiday season compared with in excess of one quarter in the 2014 holiday season.
The survey questioned 400 consumers with annual household income of $75,000 or more in an online survey immediately after the Thanksgiving weekend.
The DPA said that the respondents were all married or in a committed relationship and aged 18 to 64.
“We think that has to do with their desire to do something more personal and intimate,” a DPA spokesperson said in a statement. This isn’t a generation that thinks gift cards are the best way to treat a loved one. They want to communicate how well they know each other, that they are paying attention.”
In further encouraging news for the diamond industry, the results indicated that each man who had given diamond jewelry in the past or women who had received such a present said it had been the woman’s favorite gift.
Furthermore, four out of five women kept the present and chose not to exchange it for another.
Both Millennials and others questioned said they preferred to receive one meaningful gift than lots of smaller ones since it the latter type that are usually returned or forgotten.
Most people polled who hadn’t given or received gifts of diamond jewelry often could not recall what they had received the previous year. One in four men who gave other gifts couldn’t remember what they had given, and one in five women couldn’t remember what they’d received.
Both Millennial women and those of other ages responded that diamond earrings or a diamond ring were the gifts most in demand. Among female Millennials, the third most popular gift was a diamond solitaire necklace.
