The Fancy Color Diamond Index (FCDI) for Q3 2019 showed a decrease of 0.5% in overall Fancy Color prices, driven by a 1.5% decline in the prices of Yellow diamonds. Prices of Blues and Pinks stood firm.
As in the past 12 months, in the third quarter, the Fancy Vivid category outperformed (0.1%) the Fancy Intense (-0.5%) and Fancy (-1.0%) categories.
In comparison to the corresponding quarter in 2018, the Q3 FCDI indicates that the Fancy Vivid Blue 2 ct category increased by 6.9%, the Fancy Vivid Yellow 8 ct category decreased by 9.5% and the Fancy Vivid Pink 5 ct category showed an increase of 5%.
Pink
The prices of Pinks remained stable this quarter, with a mixed behavior in different categories, which resulted in a slight decrease of 0.1% overall, mainly due to a decrease of 3% in the 5 ct Fancy Pink category. However, all Fancy Vivid Pinks rose by 0.4%, with Fancy Vivid Pinks of 1 and 3 ct categories increasing by 1.6% and 1.7%, respectively.
Blue
The Blue diamond prices remained balanced in Q3, with a 0.1% increase. The sharpest increase in Q3 was presented by the 1.5 ct Fancy Vivid Blue category (2.1%). Over the past 12 months, the price of this category appreciated by 10.6%. Interestingly, the sharpest drop during this quarter (-2.2%) was in the 1.5 ct Fancy Intense Blue category.
Yellow
Generally the prices of Yellow diamonds decreased by 1.5% in the current quarter. The most distinct price decrease of 3.5% was in the 3 ct Fancy Vivid Yellow category. The only category not presenting a depreciation was the 2 ct Fancy Intense Yellow.
FCRF Advisory Board member Ephraim Zion said: “The civil unrest in Hong Kong has had a negative impact on the entire luxury market including diamonds and jewelry. Having said that, I’m not surprised that Fancy Color Diamonds have been more resilient and managed much better than their counterparts!”
The Fancy Color Diamond Index is published by the non-profit Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), tracking pricing data for Yellow, Pink, and Blue fancy color diamonds in major global trading centers – Hong Kong, New York, Geneva, and Tel Aviv.