Culture Is the Key to Getting Eyes Back on Diamonds

Peter Dixon, chief creative officer at Prophet, believes the diamond industry’s challenge in 2026 is not simply competing with lab-grown stones or defending pricing. It is rebuilding cultural relevance. 

Dixon, whose business consulting firm has worked with brands including Cartier, Swarovski, and Signet Jewelers, argues that younger consumers are not rejecting luxury outright, but they are becoming far more selective about what deserves emotional and financial investment. 

“Culture is the primary driver of how people build impression,” Dixon says. “Brands need to be part of culture if they’re going to be part of presence and attention in this economy.” 

He compares diamonds’ current position to industries such as alcohol and automobiles, where generational habits have shifted dramatically. Younger consumers do not care about drinks or cars the same way previous generations did, he explains, “and it’s affecting sales. It’s starting to affect behavior. It’s starting to affect the economies of these industries that used to be bedrock to consumerism. Diamonds are a similar thing.” 

At the same time, synthetic diamonds have fundamentally altered consumer psychology. “Lab diamonds used to be kind of an annoyance to the diamond market,” Dixon says. “But it’s mainstreamed,” becoming a way for people to buy diamond jewelry they wouldn’t have considered accessible before. 

That shift, he argues, forces the natural-diamond industry to move beyond technical specifications and price comparisons. “The romance of a diamond and its purchase can’t just be about the commoditization of it. It’s how the thing makes you feel. You have to emotionalize the story.” 

For decades, branding often supported business strategy; today, Dixon asserts, it is the strategy. “Culture was simply the context in which branding operated. Now, culture is the content itself.”  

That means diamonds need to reconnect with the moments, people and platforms shaping modern aspiration. Fashion brands have spent years mastering collaborations, pop-ups, celebrity alignment and cultural experimentation to maintain relevance. The diamond industry, he believes, must think similarly. 

“In the short and midterm, I’d lean into celebrity storytelling where the story is not about diamonds, but the occasions where they show up — commemoration, big events, romantic gestures,” Dixon says. “Make sure you pick the right, most relevant celebrity and make sure they are into it.” 

And the industry needs to reclaim key cultural stages, he adds. “They’ve got to own certain moments — the Met Gala, the Oscars, the Grammys, also the Super Bowl, Formula 1 — where diamonds make a statement, and it’s not about ostentation, but meaning.” 

He sees short-form video platforms as central to that effort. “I think YouTube, TikTok and Instagram are the best vehicles.” 

Dixon believes the industry’s biggest mistake would be relying too heavily on traditional product messaging at a time when emotional and cultural relevance increasingly influence consumer behavior. “The demand that culture can drive will supersede anything you think benefit-based marketing can actually provide.” 

For the diamond industry, the challenge is no longer simply proving rarity or value. It is becoming emotionally visible again within contemporary culture. “That’s how diamonds need to fix their markets,” he says. “They have to be part of culture.” 

Main image: Peter Dixon. (Prophet)