As economy loses lustre, Japanese swap gems for yen

New York

DIAMONDS are not necessarily forever. At least not in Japan, where jewellery owners are unloading unwanted jewels for cash at a record pace and shipping them off to buyers in China and India.

The appeal of gem-encrusted rings and earrings that were part of the luxury fashions of the 1980s and 1990s has faded as the population ages and the economy languishes. In a country that does not have any mines and was the second largest buyer less than a decade ago, exports of used diamonds are up 77 per cent this year, Ministry of Finance data show.

"I want to spend the money for travelling or dinner rather than just holding the diamond in my closet," a 64-year-old housewife, who asked to be identified by her first name, Mitsuko, said after selling her two-carat diamond ring at a Komehyo C…