New price trend index for fancy colour diamonds

Fancy colour diamonds have been identified as stable and high growth alternative asset class against a backdrop of global market volatility
New price trend index for fancy colour diamonds

The Fancy Color Research Foundation (The FCRF) had released a new index for fancy colour diamonds. The index shows that fancy colour diamonds have delivered strong and consistent price increases, outperforming key global asset indices, since 2005.

The Fancy Color Diamond Index (The Index) has been developed by The FCRF from proprietary access to tens of thousands of fancy colour diamond transactions since 2005 and will be updated on a quarterly basis. The Index provides greater knowledge and understanding of fancy color diamond pricing trends to jewellery retail, wholesale and mining industries. The publication of The Index marks the launch of The FCRF, which is an independent, non-profit organization formed to promote fair-trade, ethics and transparency in the fancy color diamond retail, wholesale and mining industry.

Fancy color diamonds, predominantly made up of yellow, pink and blue diamonds, have always been highly prized and rare assets. They are found randomly and unpredictably in diamond mines throughout the world and are enjoyed by sophisticated jewelry buyers and gem collectors alike. Consistent recent growth in values has reflected the changing dynamics of global wealth notably the fast paced growth of emerging markets and the appeal of fancy color diamonds as an investment product.

The first Index shows that fancy colour diamonds, across pinks, yellows and blues, have increased in value by 167 per cent on average since January 2005, outperforming other leading asset indices in a similar period, for example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased 58 per cent, and Standard & Poor’s 500 has increased 63 per cent and London house prices have increased 82.1 per cent.

Further, the Index shows that pink diamonds have shown the greatest growth in value, up by 360 per cent in the last nine years, with blues showing less dramatic but equally consistent growth of a 161 per cent value increase. Crucially, both pink and blue diamonds were unaffected by the global financial crisis with blues keeping their value and pinks still increasing through 2008-2010.

The FCRF activity aims at: Developing innovative research and digital tools that will support the fancy color diamond retail selling process for consumers, retailers and collectors; Promoting fair-trade in fancy color diamonds throughout the value chain underpinned by reliable data analysis to create a uniform knowledge base across all industry layers; Authoring publications to clarify the complex methodology for evaluating fancy color diamonds; Correcting common misconceptions about evaluating fancy color diamonds.

The FCRF was initiated by Eden Rachminov, author of The Fancy Color Diamond Book and winner of the NCDIA education award. Ambitions and activities of The FCRF will be guided and evaluated by an experienced board of advisors that work throughout the diamond pipeline.

Eden Rachminov, member of the Board of Advisors for The FCRF commented, “The launch of The Fancy Color Research Foundation is in response to the growth in fancy color diamonds transactions and the resulting need for greater education, understanding and clarity in the industry.

“The process and skills for evaluating fancy color diamonds are unique to this exceptional product. As a result there is a need to clarify misconceptions and to highlight the differences to evaluating colorless diamonds.

“In addition to publishing The Index, The FCRF is developing and publishing a series of practical tools, targeted at retailers. We are confident that The Fancy Color Research Foundation will be a significant influence on increasing demand within the fancy color diamond industry.”

Membership of The FCRF is open to retailers, auction houses, wholesale traders/manufacturers, financial institutions, insurance appraisers and mining companies. Organizations interested in membership of The FCRF should visit fcresearch.org to register details.


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