Heard on the Street: Rapaport Drops Second Episode of New Video Series

Heard on the Street, a video series that shares raw and unfiltered insights on the natural-diamond and colored-gemstones industries, released its second episode on June 17.

In Episode 2, Heather Chambers, moderator of Heard on the Street, fostered honest conversation with the panelists on division in the industry, De Beers’ Desert diamonds and colored gemstones. Following this, the panelists shared their thoughts on the impact celebrities and social media influencers have on the industry.

Why is the diamond industry so divided?

To kick off the episode, the panelists discussed division in the industry and how the industry currently markets natural diamonds to consumers.

“I think the times have changed a lot,” said Ari Jain, CEO of House of Diamonds. “Before, basically our product would market itself. It’s the most amazing product in the entire world so we thought it should speak for itself.”

Jain believes that today every company has a responsibility to market natural diamonds before promoting itself.

“It’s our responsibility to first promote natural diamonds, to remind people that they are the rarest product and rarest miracle of nature ever to be found and then to promote your company and then to promote the next sale,” Jain continued.

Like Jain, Senil Lakhani, president of Kiran Gems USA, agreed that today, many natural diamond companies were focusing on their own branding.

“Every company, every brand, they are just working on marketing themselves rather than the natural diamond as a whole story,” Lakhani said. “That’s where we are not unified.”

Are people purchasing Desert diamonds?

In October 2025, De Beers launched the Desert diamond marketing campaign which focuses on off-white-, champagne- and amber-colored diamonds.

“The whole point of the Desert diamond campaign was that people have been chasing perfection way too much,” Jain said. “De Beers wanted to show that there’s perfection in imperfection.”

Years ago, L-, M- and N-colored diamonds weren’t even looked at, but today the industry is bringing these diamonds back, observed Kerri Lavine, who is co-owner of Diamanti NYC in New York’s diamond district and is known as The Godmother of Diamonds on social media.

Many celebrities have also been wearing Desert diamonds, such as Taylor Swift, Teyana Taylor, Bad Bunny and Doja Cat.

“People want to have what the stars are wearing, what the stars have,” Lavine said. “Everybody wants to be like somebody. So, I think that the campaign of the Desert diamonds is bringing life back to a diamond that was never looked at.”

Which gemstones are trending?

The panelists agreed that colored gemstones are very popular right now and that many consumers were looking to incorporate them into their pieces.

“We’re [Diamanti NYC] doing a tremendous amount of sapphires and emeralds,” Lavine said. “That’s a big deal for us right now. I’m making three-stones rings as jewelry.”

For semiprecious stones, Paraiba tourmalines are trending right now, Lavine reported.

“The Paraiba tourmalines, I’ve seen some that are just astronomically unaffordable but breathtaking,” Lavine said.

Gemstones are also showing up in the watch industry. Moshe Haimoff, a social media influencer known as The Watch King and owner of the store by the same name in the New York diamond district, shared that watches with gem-set bezels were worth more than watches with natural-diamond bezels.

“If you have a [Rolex] rainbow Daytona, it’s $500,000, but it’s only a rainbow bezel,” Haimoff explained. “But if it’s a regular diamond bezel, it’s $150,000. Same thing with Patek [Philippe] and AP [Audemars Piguet] – everything that has a gem-set bezel, it’s triple.”

Although, when purchasing gemstones as an investment, Jeff Angel, director of diamond procurement at RDI Diamonds, said that consumers had to be cautious.

“I’ve been doing this 30 years, and I remember my first month, I would sit at a table [when looking at stones], one guy would say [the gemstone’s] worth $10,000 and one guy would say it’s worth $2,000, and these were professionals,” Angel said. “So, if you’re going to get into it, set an investment…. I wouldn’t rush into it.”

It really comes down to consumers and what colors they are looking for, Lakhani added.

“When [consumers] want some colors on their pieces, they are going to pay any price,” he said.

Consumers look for certain colors in their jewelry so that they can match their outfits for special events, agreed Lavine.

“If you’re going to a wedding and you want to match an outfit, you’re wearing a blue dress, you want to match sapphires, fancy-yellow diamonds if you’re wearing gold or white,” she explained. “It’s a fashion – color goes with fashion, it’s a statement.”

How does social media influence the industry?

For the rapid-fire round, which is a fast-paced segment at the end of the episode, panelists commented on the impact of celebrities and social media influencers on the industry.

Taylor Swift created a big moment for the industry with her natural-diamond engagement ring, Jain pointed out. Swift loves jewelry and even created a song recently that featured a bunch of diamonds in the video, he commented.

“[Swift] has created a lot of craze and desire for natural diamonds,” Jain said. “We really thank her for that, but the industry needs to do a better job of actually telling the story of natural diamonds to influencers so they can get the word out.”

Lavine concurred, and she encouraged the manufacturers on the panel to join her and other industry influencers in promoting natural diamonds.

“You [manufacturers] should jump on board with us and some of the social media influencers. Jump in and work with us and help us grow your products and grow our products to the end client,” Lavine said.

For Haimoff, he thinks that educating consumers is the best way to influence them.

 “Educate, show them, tell them how it is, right or wrong, left or right.… Just educate and let them make the decision,” he said.

Alongside the panel discussion, the show also includes three “Street Interview” segments featuring industry professionals and influencers from New York City’s diamond district on the same topics.

This episode had an interview with Mike Nekta, co-owner of Leon Diamond, about division in the industry; Benny Ahdoot, known as “Benny the Dealer,” owner of Mazalito NYC, on desert diamonds; and Heather Sandor, co-owner of A and C Gem Trading Corp, exploring colored gemstones.

Heard on the Street is coproduced by Rapaport and Shop LC.