The twenty-and thirty-somethings are turning to the Internet to buy engagement rings, squeezing gem sellers in the Diamond District, where empty storefronts and booths are multiplying.
"Everybody’s leaving. There’s no business," said Michael Abramov, who runs Abramov Jewelry with his brother, Albert. "The whole street is bad."
Young customers are less into formal fashion statements and not as likely to be impressed by a five-figure slice of ice.
"This generation is a more minimalist generation," said Ray Moses, who works in the business his father started in 1969, Ben Moses Fine Jewelry Designer.
"They don’t dress," said Mascha Seiden, who runs Paul Seiden Jeweler and has been on 47th Street since the 1950s.
Instead of roaming from shop to shop, buyers peruse Web sites like Blue Nile where they can chose from a variety of shapes, sizes and settings with the finished product delivered to their doors.