Budget diamond

The diamond is no longer just for the rich and famous. Affordable outlets have made the glittering gemstone accessible to middle-class Chinese. [Photo provided to China Daily]

When actress Zhang Ziyi got engaged earlier this year her diamond ring took as much of the limelight as her new status as fiancee to rock star Wang Feng.

Thanks to several highly publicized celebrity proposals like Zhang's that highlight a glittering gemstone, a diamond ring is no longer just for the rich and famous.

However, not everyone has a budget spanning millions of yuan. For such people, affordable diamond outlets have become the solution.

Yang Lei, a legal consultant in Beijing, is one of them. She bought a 7,000-yuan ($1,100) engagement ring at Make Lumer, one of the biggest diamond outlets offering affordable jewelry, after comparing prices with high-end brands such as Tiffany.

"The price meets my budget, and the quality is worth the money," she says.

China is now one of the world's three largest markets for diamond jewelry, along with the United States and India, says a Bain report published in December.

Sales of polished diamonds in China reached $2.24 billion in 2014, a 31-percent rise year-on-year, according to figures published by the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, the only import and export trading platform in China.