If it seems like you saw a lot of ads for diamond jewelry over the holidays, it wasn’t your imagination.
The diamond industry is in a little trouble, and that might mean that 2016 will be a good time to go bargain hunting for shiny toys.
De Beers is the world’s largest diamond mover; it was behind a huge holiday marketing campaign here in the U.S. and China, trying to boost diamond demand.
Rough diamond prices fell 18 percent in 2015, and the finished product — polished stones — declined 8 percent last year.
Analysts say more price cuts are coming, so it’s good news if you want to buy a diamond, bad news if you want to sell one.
The Rapaport Diamond Index says the price of top-quality diamonds have dropped more like 80 percent in the last 30 years.
At least they’re still really pretty to look at.