The jewelry industry has always thrived on rules. Precious vs. semi-precious. Diamonds above all else. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires sitting in the next tier, and everything else pushed to the sidelines with the label “semi.” For decades, that hierarchy has shaped how jewelry is marketed, sold, and worn. But the ground is shifting, and the shake-up is long overdue.
One of the most radical moves happening in luxury jewelry right now is the simple act of calling this hierarchy out. Questioning why certain stones were given prestige and others dismissed. After all, who decided that an emerald is “important” but a tourmaline is “less than”? It wasn’t nature. It was branding. It was marketing. It was the industry itself protecting its own narrative.
Bulgari Saw It Coming
This isn’t completely new. Bulgari blurred the lines decades ago. Their Serpenti and Parentesi collections mixed diamonds with colored stones of all kinds. They never leaned on the label “semi-precious.” They sold aura, design, and glamour , not categories. A Bulgari piece didn’t need to justify itself with rarity. It carried weight through artistry.
That move was subtle but powerful. It showed that luxury is bigger than a grading chart. It’s about how a piece makes you feel. Bulgari knew it, and now the rest of the industry is finally catching up.
Prada’s Bold Step
Fast forward to today, and Prada is putting the hierarchy under a microscope with their Couleur Vivante collection. Instead of diamonds, or even lab diamonds, they’ve chosen stones like aquamarine, citrine, morganite. Stones that traditional jewelers often downplay, stones once relegated to “entry-level” or “semi.”
But Prada reframes them completely. These gems aren’t shown as compromises. They’re celebrated as the main event. Their quirks , the variations in hue, the inclusions, the slight imperfections , aren’t flaws. They’re proof of individuality.
By doing this, Prada is rejecting the old value system that equated “precious” with “worthy.” The collection signals that beauty doesn’t have to mean the rarest, most expensive, or most hyped. It can simply mean real.
What Gen Z Wants
This shift matters because it reflects a generational pivot. For Millennials and especially Gen Z, the obsession isn’t with owning the rarest stone. It’s with owning something authentic. Something sustainable.
Gen Z doesn’t trust old categories. They see the marketing behind “precious vs. semi-precious” for what it is: a construct. A clever way to gatekeep luxury and reinforce the diamond’s throne.
So when Prada says, “We don’t care about that hierarchy,” it resonates. It feels modern. It feels honest. This audience doesn’t want jewelry that screams status. They want jewelry that reflects individuality.
Selling Meaning, Not Just Sparkle
Prada’s move is also part of a bigger luxury reset. The top fashion houses are realizing that the consumer of 2025 isn’t chasing the same markers of wealth as the consumer of 1995. Status symbols aren’t disappearing, but they’re being redefined.
Diamonds will always sparkle. They’ll always carry cultural weight. But they no longer carry exclusivity the way they once did. Lab grown diamonds proved that. If you can grow a flawless stone in a lab, then what really separates “value” from “meaning”? The answer is story.
Prada isn’t selling sparkle. They’re selling meaning. That’s the difference. An aquamarine ring in Couleur Vivante isn’t about carat weight or resale value. It’s about individuality. It’s about wearing a stone that feels alive with color, with quirks, with its own fingerprint.
That message lands because it mirrors how luxury is evolving overall. In fashion, in watches, in jewelry, in art , people are buying identity, not just items. They’re buying alignment with values like sustainability and authenticity. They’re buying aura.
A Challenge to the Industry
Of course, this shift challenges the entire diamond-centered model. For over a century, the natural diamond industry has marketed itself as eternal, rare, unshakable. Lab grown diamonds already chipped away at that narrative by showing you could have the same sparkle for less. Prada goes further by saying sparkle alone isn’t even the point.
What happens to a hierarchy when brands stop using it? It collapses. That’s what we’re seeing now. Consumers don’t need to be told what’s precious anymore. They decide for themselves.
The Future of Luxury Jewelry
This doesn’t mean diamonds are disappearing. Far from it. But it does mean they’re no longer the unquestioned king. They’re part of a bigger palette. And in many ways, that’s healthier for the industry. It gives space for creativity, for inclusivity, for sustainability. It gives designers permission to focus on design and story rather than being chained to the carat race.
The future of luxury jewelry looks less like a pyramid with diamonds at the top, and more like a spectrum. A space where aquamarine, morganite, citrine, tourmaline, and sapphires can sit alongside diamonds , each chosen not because of what a chart says, but because of what they mean to the wearer.
Final Thoughts
Prada’s Couleur Vivante collection is more than just another release. It’s a statement. A rejection of outdated hierarchies. A celebration of stones once sidelined. A nod to a new generation that values authenticity over status, individuality over conformity.
Luxury is shifting, and jewelry is following. The hierarchy of “precious vs. semi-precious” is crumbling. What’s replacing it is far more interesting: a culture of meaning, storytelling, and individuality. And that may just be the most exciting reset luxury has seen in decades.