Determining whether diamonds are rarer than gold requires understanding how “rarity” is defined. The high price of diamonds is often mistakenly linked to natural scarcity, while gold’s value is associated with its function as a currency and commodity. The true answer separates natural abundance, which is geological, from market availability, which is controlled by economic decisions and extraction difficulty. Examining the nature of each material reveals that their perceived rarity is based on entirely different factors.
Raw Geological Concentration
Gold is an element (Au), and its rarity is a function of its concentration within the Earth’s crust. Estimates place the average crustal abundance of gold at an extraordinarily low level, ranging from 0.001 to 0.006 parts per million (ppm). This makes it one of the least abundant naturally occurring elements on the planet. Its scarcity is tied to the geochemistry of its formation and its tendency to sink toward the Earth’s core.
Diamonds are a mineral composed of carbon, an element far more abundant in the crust, estimated at around 200 ppm. While the raw material is plentiful, diamonds are not. They are a specific crystalline structure of carbon that forms only under immense pressure and heat, typically at depths of 150 to 250 kilometers within the Earth’s mantle. Geologically, gold is the significantly rarer substance when comparing the total elemental availability of gold to the total elemental availability of the carbon required to form a diamond.
Costs of Extraction and Retrieval
The economic rarity of a substance is influenced by the difficulty and cost involved in extraction. Gold extraction methods, such as cyanidation and gravity separation, are highly refined processes used to recover the metal from various ore types. Economically viable gold deposits are generally defined by a concentration of at least 0.5 ppm, though modern large-scale mines can profitably process lower grades.
Diamond extraction from primary deposits requires mining kimberlite pipes, which are ancient volcanic conduits that brought diamonds to the surface. This involves processing massive volumes of rock, but the yield of gem-quality material is extremely low, often measured in carats per hundred tons. Only a small fraction of discovered kimberlite pipes contain gem-quality diamonds, making the search and recovery effort complex and capital-intensive. The physical challenge of accessing and processing the deep-source kimberlite rock contributes substantially to the final market price.
Economic Supply Management
The perceived rarity of diamonds has been historically shaped by human market control rather than geological constraints. For most of the 20th century, the diamond supply was effectively managed by a centralized entity, De Beers, through its Central Selling Organization (CSO). This group controlled a vast majority of the world’s rough diamond distribution, sometimes controlling over 80% of the market.
This centralized control allowed for the strategic stockpiling of diamonds during weak demand to prevent price dips, creating an artificial economic scarcity. The famous “A Diamond Is Forever” campaign cemented the idea of diamonds as a store of value and an emotional necessity for marriage. This marketing helped maintain high prices irrespective of actual production volume.
Gold, conversely, is traded as a global commodity with a free market price influenced by multiple producers, central bank reserves, and investment demand. The price of gold reflects its inherent geological scarcity and its established role in the global financial system, while the diamond price has been historically propped up by managed supply and marketing efforts.
Impact of Synthetic and Recycled Materials
The modern supply landscape is changing the definition of rarity for both materials, particularly through non-mined sources. Lab-grown diamonds are chemically, physically, and visually identical to natural stones, fundamentally disrupting the concept of diamond scarcity. Technological advancements have increased production and lowered costs significantly. Lab-grown diamonds now often sell for 60% to 90% less than their natural counterparts.
The rapid adoption of synthetic stones has seen their market share in jewelry skyrocket, exceeding 50% for center stones in US engagement rings by 2024. Gold, however, is a limited element that cannot be synthesized economically, which maintains its intrinsic value. Its high value and durability contribute to its high end-of-life recycling rate, estimated to be around 86%. This recycled gold accounts for a significant portion of the total annual supply. The inability to create new gold ensures that its value remains tied to its fixed, naturally limited elemental abundance.