In a recent article called “Spring in Summer Sentiment” on Leibish & Co. Fancy Color Diamonds website, Leibish Polnauer, President and Founder of the Israel-based company, discusses investment trends in fancy color diamonds.
Argyle and Yellow Diamonds
According to Leibish, the first signs of the rebound of the fancy color market come from Asia, specifically Hong Kong and China. Similar to how the locomotive travels on hot steam, Leibish says, “the diamond business is moving on sentiments”.
Argyle pink diamonds, he says, are on the way up as the Argyle mine is becoming more and more depleted. Where once purchase of Argyle diamonds would be in parcels, today the purchase comes in “individual 0.10 carat Argyle pink diamonds […] each one with its own Argyle certificate”.
Though always desirable, Leibish claims that “the driving force in the future price development will be in yellow diamonds”. Yellow diamonds have performed “quite well” in recent Sotheby’s HK auctions: a 5.00-carat fancy vivid yellow VS sold at auction for $124,000 per carat, while Leibish sold a similar top quality 5.01-carat emerald for more than $90,000 per carat.
The largest yellow diamond known today is the Incomparable – a 407.48-carat stone with a color description of Fancy Brownish Yellow. The Incomparable, mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the third-largest faceted diamond in the world. The next-biggest yellow diamonds are the Oppenheimer, a 253.70-carat Yellow diamond; the De Beers, a 234.65-carat Light Yellow diamond; and the 205.07-carat Red Cross Diamond – all of which were mined in South Africa.
Why Invest in Diamonds?
Leibish explains: “Investing in specific diamonds is for people who want to conserve their wealth for the next generation, or keep their money out of the turbulent markets for a long period of time”.
Over the years, he says, he has seen “some excellent returns on many of my customer’s investments”, especially on high-quality stones – FL (flawless), IF (internally flawless) or at least VS and up. These, he says, “will never go out of fashion […] they will keep their value and increase in price”.
