BENTON, La - Every holiday proposal season, couples walk into a jewelry store, fall for a ring and pay for it as one package. Axiom Diamond (AxiomDiamond.com) wants them to split that package in two.
The center stone is where most of the money goes, and it's where the markup sits. When De Beers shut down its lab-grown brand, Lightbox, it said wholesale prices for lab-grown diamonds had dropped 90% since 2018. Yet JCK reported this year that retailers still mark lab-grown stones up more than 80% over wholesale, a margin that barely moved from 2025 to 2026.
Lab-grown is now how most couples buy. The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study found 61% of engagement rings have a lab-grown center stone, averaging nearly 2 carats. The same study found 79% of ring recipients help choose the ring, and one in four couples shop together at a retailer before the proposal.
Here's what that looks like on a 2-carat, colorless, VVS2 lab-grown diamond. At a local independent jeweler, that stone typically runs about $2,600 set in the ring. At Axiom Diamond, the same grade averages $1,285. Add an estimated $187 to have it mounted and the total is $1,472. That's $1,128 saved, with the setting fee already paid.
And it isn't a trade-down. Axiom Diamond only stocks the top tier of lab-grown: colorless D to F, clarity no lower than VS2, and Triple Excellent cut, polish and symmetry. Its online store shows a 360° video of every stone, so buyers can see exactly what they're getting. For added peace of mind, gemologists hand-select every stone, and each one ships free and insured with an independent IGI report. Buyers aren't settling for a cheaper diamond to save money. They're getting a better one for less.
Nobody has to give up the ring they fell for, either. A couple picks the setting they want at the store they already planned to buy from, buys the center diamond from Axiom Diamond, and has that same store mount it.
"People assume buying the diamond separately means settling for something. It's the opposite," said Jb Jaura, owner of Axiom Diamond. "Keep the setting. Keep your jeweler. Just don't pay retail markups on the stone. You end up with a better diamond, the ring you actually want, and more than eleven hundred dollars on average that you can put toward something else in your life. Weddings are expensive enough without paying sales commissions and arbitrary markups."
Hidden costs are what usually scare people off this approach. Most jewelers set the stones they sell for free and charge to set one they didn't. Axiom Diamond puts that number on the table up front. Its online pricing calculator takes the diamond a store quoted and returns an estimated Axiom price, an estimated in-store price and an estimated mounting fee based on industry standard prong-setting rates. Bezel, channel and custom work can run higher, but buyers walk into the jeweler knowing what to expect.
For couples shopping before the holidays, Jaura suggests four questions to ask at the counter: ●
- What does this setting cost without a center stone?
- What do you charge to mount a diamond I bring in?
- What are the exact color and clarity grades on the stone you're quoting?
- What shape and size of stone can this setting hold?
About Axiom Diamond
Axiom Diamond is the trade name of Axiom Reserve, LLC, an online retailer of hand-selected, IGI-certified lab-grown diamonds based in Benton, Louisiana. The company sells loose, colorless D to F stones in eight shapes for buyers who want to choose their own setting and jeweler. While Axiom Diamond only carries IGI-certified diamonds, it is not affiliated with IGI. Learn more at AxiomDiamond.com.
Media Contact
Jb Jaura
Owner, Axiom Diamond