Camilla Hodgson and David Pilling in London Published September 27 2026

A backlash against the artificial has given the struggling natural diamond industry fresh hope of regaining its sparkle, according to the boss of gemstones company De Beers. Al Cook, chief executive of the Anglo American-owned business up for sale since 2024, said consumers were increasingly looking to prioritise the real over the synthetic, for example by choosing physical over digital art, human connections over “AI companions” and food with origins they understood rather than lab-grown meat. “There’s a large societal move that will only grow, back towards what’s natural and what’s real, and away from what’s artificial, what’s fake,” Cook told the FT, adding that De Beers was well positioned to capture that “zeitgeist”.

The global shift this century to digital has radically altered everything from communications and banking systems to the media and commerce landscapes, with profound impacts for societies and economies worldwide. In recent months, the rapid development of AI has provoked growing concerns about the threats the technology may pose to humanity and triggered debate about how best to manage it. Some of the hype around newer alternatives to traditional products, from art to food, has also been waning.

Lossmaking De Beers and other natural diamond companies have come under intense pressure from lab-grown versions that are cheaper to produce and buy since the alternative market began more than a decade ago. The industry has also been badly hit by persistently weak demand from Chinese consumers that has affected other areas of the luxury market. A consortium led by former De Beers chief Gareth Penny has emerged as the leading bidder in the sale process, although Ndaba Gaolathe, the finance minister of Botswana, which holds a 15 per cent stake in De Beers, told the FT this week that the deal was not yet “set”.

De Beers has reported signs that public appetite for natural gems was returning. The London-headquartered company noted “encouraging consumer demand signals” in the first six months of the year in the core US market, where it said natural diamond jewellery sales had returned to growth. Robert Wake-Walker, a consultant at WWW International Diamond Consultants, said natural diamond prices had been on a “steady improvement” since August and that the downward pressure in the first half appeared to have “reversed”. Paul Zimnisky, an independent analyst, said his natural diamond index was up 4 per cent over the past six months, while his synthetic diamond equivalent had fallen 7 per cent over that period.