Article: Comparative analysis and price modelling of natural and lab-grown diamonds Journal: International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing (IJEMR) 2026 Vol.18 No.5 pp.1 - 25 Abstract: This work analyses a natural and lab-grown diamonds dataset collected from an online retailer. Exploratory analysis demonstrates that natural and lab-grown diamonds differ in all aspects of attributes. A price model integrates both types into the analytical framework. According to the model, carat weight has an enormous influence on the price of both types followed by colour and clarity. Hypothesis-driven comparison of these two diamond categories reveals distinct carat prices across carat subgroups. We organise the dataset into structured subgroups using pivot tables assembled by carat range, colour, and clarity. The resulting price-difference matrix is converted to heat maps for round and fancy-shaped diamonds. The findings confirm that natural diamonds consistently achieve higher per-carat values than lab-grown diamonds for these two shapes of diamonds. This analysis provides insights into the factors driving the pricing structures of both diamond types, contributing to an improved understanding of their respective market dynamics. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Comparative analysis and price modelling of natural and lab-grown diamonds

Authors: Chong Huang; HaiYing Wang; Like Zhang

Addresses: Eberhardt School of Business, University of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Ave., Stockton, CA 95211, USA ' Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut, 215 Glenbrook Rd. U-4120, Storrs, CT 06269-4120, USA ' School of Business, University of Kansas, 1654 Naismith Drive, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA

Abstract: This work analyses a natural and lab-grown diamonds dataset collected from an online retailer. Exploratory analysis demonstrates that natural and lab-grown diamonds differ in all aspects of attributes. A price model integrates both types into the analytical framework. According to the model, carat weight has an enormous influence on the price of both types followed by colour and clarity. Hypothesis-driven comparison of these two diamond categories reveals distinct carat prices across carat subgroups. We organise the dataset into structured subgroups using pivot tables assembled by carat range, colour, and clarity. The resulting price-difference matrix is converted to heat maps for round and fancy-shaped diamonds. The findings confirm that natural diamonds consistently achieve higher per-carat values than lab-grown diamonds for these two shapes of diamonds. This analysis provides insights into the factors driving the pricing structures of both diamond types, contributing to an improved understanding of their respective market dynamics.

Keywords: carat price; big data; commodity; round shape; fancy shape.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2026.155557

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2026 Vol.18 No.5, pp.1 - 25

Received: 11 Feb 2026
Accepted: 23 May 2026
Published online: 05 Aug 2026 *

Title: Comparative analysis and price modelling of natural and lab-grown diamonds

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