3 Smart Jewelry Investments: Colored Diamonds

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Blue Moon Diamond

Fancy Intense Pink diamonds larger than three carats

Choosing jewelry that suits your personal style is often a quest led by instinct, but building a repertoire that promises to survive the test of time and grow more valuable as it matures can be a greater challenge. Christie’s senior jewelry specialist Tom Burstein shines a light on three materials and designs that have captured worldwide interest and explains why you should add them to your collection. 

Among the most valuable investments today is colored diamonds.

Western Australia’s Argyle mine (run by diamond dealer Rio Tinto) began unearthing pink diamonds in the 1980s, and it continues to bring the colorful stones to market. It is projected that the mine will deplete its pink diamond supply by 2020, and though smaller sources in South Africa and Brazil also produce colored diamonds, there is a tangible urgency to the procurement of the gems. Burstein understands the pressure: “The most rare fancy colored diamonds—pink, blue, green, orange, and red—garner the highest prices in an auction. The demand for fancy colored diamonds is strong and greatly exceeds a limited supply; and it is the market mechanism of an open auction that fully exploits this relationship. This is even more true over the last 25 years, as the number of high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals has grown exponentially, completely outpacing the very few gem-quality fancy colored diamonds that are mined each year.”

· TOP SALE: In 2015, a 12-carat fancy blue diamond known as the “Blue Moon Diamond” sold for $48 million at a Sotheby’s auction. It holds the record as the most expensive gem (and colored diamond) ever sold at auction.

· PRICE CHECK: Prices paid for Fancy Intense Pink diamonds larger than three carats have grown steadily in the past decade. In 2003, a 3.58-carat Fancy Intense Pink diamond was sold for $115,000 per carat, costing a total of $412,000. In 2015, Christie’s sold this 16-carat pink diamond, known as “Sweet Josephine,” for more than $28 million, averaging about $1,750,000 per carat.