The prices of fancy colour diamonds are ahead of the pack where their white counterparts are concerned.
According to the Fancy Color Diamond Index, prices of these diamonds remained stable during the third quarter of 2015 at a time when white diamonds showed decreases of six to 10 per cent. The best performing fancy colour diamonds were vivid blues, which showed price increases of up to six per cent over the previous quarter.
Between July to September 2015, the index remained practically unchanged, despite lower transaction volumes. While yellow diamond prices, especially in the fancy category, were soft and decreased by up to two per cent, blue diamonds showed average price increases of up to two per cent, driven by the vivid category. Further, certain sizes (i.e. 1.5 carats, 2 carats, and 5 carats) increased by five to six per cent over the previous quarter. This marks the most significant quarterly price increase for blue diamonds in the last 12 months. Prices for pink diamonds were on average unchanged.
The Fancy Color Diamond Index is published by Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF). It tracks pricing data for yellow, pink, and blue fancy colour diamonds in three key trading centres: Hong Kong, New York, and Tel Aviv.
“Demand for blue diamonds may have been magnified by the excitement being generated by the upcoming Sotheby’s auction headlined by the ‘Blue Moon,’ one of the world’s important fancy vivid blue diamonds,” said FCRF advisory board chair, Eden Rachminov. “This has caused increased demand against a shortage of fancy blue diamonds.”
Compared to the third quarter of 2014, blue diamonds have been the strongest performer among all colour categories, with a three to four per cent price appreciation year-on-year. The highest single-category year-on-year price increase was for 5-carat vivid blue diamonds at 11 per cent.
