Three weeks in the past at London’s gleaming LoveLuxury boutique, proprietor Emily Abraham jammed a dozen Hermès baggage on a spotless glass counter.
There was a coveted blue Kelly bag named for the actress Grace Kelly, a basic black Birkin with an 18-karat white gold clasp and an orange croc-embossed purse that matched the famously vibrant Hermès packaging.
“I’ve just got engaged,” said the buyer, an ultra-polished girl named Saniya.
“And instead of asking for a ring, I’ve asked for an Hermès bag.”
Two days later, another shopper walked into LoveLuxury’s Dubai location and requested bag skilled Souhaila Loudiy for the same factor.
Sorry, Marilyn — diamonds may no longer be a lady’s greatest good friend. twentieth Century Fox Licensing/Merch
The social media moments landed tons of of 1000’s of views across TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
They also hinted at a new form of stone-walling.
More ladies are eschewing diamonds in favor of purses when it comes to milestone markers like engagements, births and new jobs.
“I think it’s clear that handbags, particularly high-end bags, have replaced jewelry,” purse skilled and Fashion Institute of Technology professor Emily Blumenthal advised The Post.
She factors to the Fendi Baguette and the Chloe Paddington Bag as examples of Gen Z funding performs that might beforehand have been a pair of Tiffany studs.
“With the price of gold skyrocketing and the rise of lab-grown diamonds, jewelry doesn’t seem to carry the same cachet it used to,” Blumenthal added.
That sentiment is backed up by trade knowledge that says the value of pure diamonds on the resale market has sunk more than 50% since 2021.
Meanwhile, a new report in the Financial Times traces the fall of the diamond emporium De Beers, which just plummeted from a $13 billion firm in 2011 to $2.3 billion. It is allegedly on the block for just $1 billion.
Chanel baggage have changed jewellery as a luxurious deal with for many ladies. GC Images
Even with the resale value of Hermès Birkin baggage falling a reported 38%, many New York ladies still need their cash where they can see it — swinging off their arm.
“These days, bags retain more value than diamonds,” Richie Jolivette, a New York-based influencer, advised The Post. “My ex-husband almost made me go broke, and I had to sell all the bags I had bought for myself before.”
Her jewellery, she said, didn’t have the same straightforward turnaround.
On revered resale platforms like Sotheby’s Auction House, the least costly diamond piece — a white-gold bracelet — begins at $1,200. The least costly Hermès bag is more than double that at $2,900.
Gem consultants blame everything from the declining luxurious market in China to the rise of lab-grown stones — a class that De Beers itself even tried to enter in 2018 through a doomed silo model, Lightbox.
But for avid luxurious buyers, emotional baggage also performs into the (non) buy.
Courtney Bonilla with her child and her Bottega Veneta bag in Soho, New York.
“Diamonds are about forever,” Bryan Grey Yambao, a outstanding style influencer and editor of Perfect journal, advised The Post. “They carry this weird baggage of associations: engagements, anniversaries, inheritance and ‘special occasions.’”
Yambao said buyers discover valuable gems to be nearly morbid.
“They’re giving this ‘leave it to your grandchildren’ aura,” he defined. A Chanel bag, by distinction, “is a bigger dopamine hit. It’s immediate… I’m in my forties, not my sixties. I’d rather have serotonin.”
Influencers like Campbell “Pookie” Puckett and Bri Marie Jax appear to agree.
On their wildly standard TikTok feeds, they have obtained designer purses (Hermès and Yves Saint Laurent, respectively) as “push presents” while pregnant instead of the conventional diamond jewellery.
Cortne Bonilla-Oliva, the senior procuring editor at Marie Claire, did the same.
When she gave beginning to her first youngster, Row, in late December last 12 months, she opted for a $5,800 Bottega Veneta Hop bag as a “push present” instead of a diamond ring or bracelet.
“I already have four rings,” said Bonilla. “I didn’t need another.”
Diamonds are shedding floor to purses in luxurious areas, according to retail consultants. Getty Images
What’s more, the US Census Bureau says single ladies make up 52% of the nation’s complete inhabitants — the highest proportion ever recorded. As marriage charges fall, so do beginning charges, with a 7.8% slide in the previous 10 years. That means there’s less demand for engagement rings and push current diamonds alike.
That’s a huge downside for the diamond trade, which hasn’t yet figured out how to place its stone-cold glamour as a “little treat” (or a huge one) for single ladies trying to splurge on themselves.
“The diamond industry spent the better part of a century convincing women that diamonds were the ultimate expression of love, preferably purchased by someone else,” defined Carson Griffith, a author and luxurious skilled who tracks wealth porn for her Substack publication, Rich People Sh*t. “That’s a peculiar sales pitch in an era when women are perfectly capable of buying their own luxuries.”
When 30-something model advisor Lucy Morris pulled through a tough monetary patch last 12 months, she determined to purchase herself a current to rejoice her hard-won success. “It never even occurred to me to buy fine jewelry,” Morris advised The Post.
Audrey Hepburn research the diamonds at Tiffany & Co. in 1961. The Kobal Collection
Instead of a diamond baguette ring, she settled on a Fendi Baguette bag, as made well-known by Carrie Bradshaw on “Sex and the City” and later carried by stars like Rihanna and Amanda Seyfried.
“I can use it regularly,” said Morris, who famous that diamonds really feel more like a “sometimes” factor. “It’s arguably practical.”
On resale website TheRealReal, Fendi Baguettes in wonderful situation usually promote for about 80% of their retail worth. Diamonds fetch 30% less in the present market.
There is also some Prada psychology to take into account: A purse, unlike a diamond, can be noticed —and therefore coveted — from across the room. And strolling into a perpetually scorching restaurant like Via Carota with a bag from The Row sends a bigger sign to the crowd.
“A diamond tells people you can afford something expensive,” Griffith defined. “A difficult-to-obtain handbag, like a rare Hermès or one of Matthieu Blazy’s new Chanel bags, suggests you can afford it and know how to get it. The latter can be a more impressive accomplishment.”
Even the diamond kingdoms on Fifth Avenue may be rethinking how they bling it on.
On Tiffany & Co.’s hotly anticipated 2025 vacation reward information, the iconic model featured diamonds in seven out of 12 of its top-listed reward picks — which means about 58% of potential presents were iced out. This 12 months, just two of the first 12 objects listed — about 17% — are diamond-encrusted, supplemented by yellow gold earrings and pearl station bracelets.
But these who concern the future of Audrey Hepburn’s favourite breakfast joint should relaxation straightforward.
Tiffany & Co. proprietor Bernard Arnault advised traders on a July earnings call that earnings on watches and jewellery were up 9% and that ultra-rich prospects were still shopping for valuable gems alongside with deeper investments in stable gold items.
But just in case, there’s a haute hedge:
Tiffany & Co. has been quietly promoting some fabulous purses.
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