Fancy Colour Diamonds - Fancy A Fancy Colour Diamond?

With fewer and fewer diamonds being unearthed every year, fancy colour diamonds are becoming more and more rare, with prices on an upward swing - this is causing their perceived value to go up, making them highly coveted, says

- Suneeta Kaul

The fancy colour diamond market has been experiencing an upsurge in popularity, with adiscerning and well-heeled consumers aspiring for these rare stones, and not minding paying a premium for them. It has rapidly transformed from a risky and speculative business into an attractive and lucrative niche, thanks to a steady growth in demand, diminished supply and increased prices.

PRICES ON THE UP AND UP

With demand accelerating, prices of fancy colour diamonds have also seen a steady rise. According to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), a non-profit that promotes transparency and fair trade in the market, “The average price of all colours and sizes of fancy colour diamonds climbed by 3.9% in 2022, led by a 4.6% increase in all Yellows, and followed by a 3.9% rise in Pinks, and 1.8% in Blues. This climb was in contrast to the annual decline in white diamonds and other major financial markets.”

The prices reported by the FCRF are based on its own Fancy Colour Diamond Index, which is built on tracked data for yellow, pink, and blue fancy colour diamonds’ performance in major global trading centres such as Hong Kong, New York, Geneva and Tel Aviv.

Sharing his insights, Jamie Clark, Head of Global Operations, De Beers Institute of Diamonds, says, “Fancy colour diamonds have become more well known, increasingly on-trend and aspirational, so their prices have risen considerably in recent years. There are published figures for the past 10 years of nearly an 80% increase, with 2022 alone seeing a 4% increase on average. Fancy colour diamonds can be so rare that they have proved to be just as good an investment as original artworks, or vintage sportscars."