Interview: Eden Rachminov on Fancy Color Diamonds

[Professional Jeweller, UK] Between 2005 and 2014, pink, yellow and blue diamonds have increased in value by a startling 167% on average, a statistic which reveals not just an increased awareness of the strong investment po tential that these stones possess, but a new appetite for fancy color diamonds in jewelry.

As with any other commodity, demand is the factor which governs the prices of fancy color diamonds, meaning that their value is subject to change over time as fashions change.

Indeed, it was the recession itself which truly brought to light the stark differences between fancy color diamond categories, and highlighted where the demand for them really lay. For example, yellow diamonds suffered a 45% decline in value between January 2008 and January 2009 as most retail consumers lowered their spending and demand dropped, while supply remained steady.

The following year, yellow diamonds increased 52% in value, and continued to increase in value - to fully recover their pre-recession value - by Jan 2012.

On the other hand, pink and blue diamonds, with a more limited supply and held mostly by investors with longer horizons, were not put up for sale throughout the recession and hence held steady in value.

Pink diamonds are particularly popular today by collectors from the Far East, as the color symbolises vitality, happiness and celebration. The emergences of cultural tropes like this have helped to bolster the demand for, and consequently the trading of, fancy colour diamonds in the Asian market.

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