Investing in natural coloured diamonds can be a boon in the booming business of coloured gems!

Coloured diamonds, in and of themselves, have become more and more popular over the past several years. They add understated elegance and class to any ensemble. They bring a bright sparkle of colour to the wearer when the clear beauty of the classic white diamond just isn’t enough.

It might be beneficial to know a few facts about why investing in coloured diamonds the last few years has increased:

Coloured diamonds are 10,000 times as rare as white diamonds. Buyer demand has increased due to the intrinsic and unique beauty of these rare stones. Because of the increase in consumer demand, the value of coloured diamonds has shown a steady price appreciation.

Diamonds are not as liquid as other kinds of investments, but in tough economic times, it is important to focus more on the preservation of capital and less on increasing financial gains and fancy coloured diamonds offer a unique source of value for those who chose to invest in them.

Investing in diamonds of any kind is considered a “passion investment.” In light of the recent financial crisis, high-net-worth individuals have been seeking out “more tangible assets that will hold their long-term value.” Because of this, watches, jewellery, and gems overtook “art” as the most important “passion investment” globally since 2009. Although the returns on diamonds has been lower than those on gold since 1999, both white and coloured diamonds have outperformed the stock market. The investment return on coloured diamonds was 2.9% between 1999 and 2010. Since 2003, returns increased to 5.5%. The nominal equivalent for coloured diamonds is 8%.

In the recent past, December 2008, to be exact, a greyish-blue Wittelsbach diamond, weighing 35.56 carats was sold at Sotheby’s in London for the astounding price of $24 million (USD). In November 2010, a pink rectangular diamond weighing 24.78 carats sold at Sotheby’s in Geneva for the record price of $45.75 million (USD). On December 7, 2010, at Christie’s New York auction, a purple-pink diamond of 6.89 carats was the top selling item for the unbelievable price of $6,914,500.00 (USD) or $1 million (USD) per carat.

The investment returns on these two diamonds by themselves are astounding! The most expensive coloured diamonds are red, blue, followed by green, pink, yellow, and brown. It is important to note, however, that the one carat, fancy brown, round cut, with the clarity grading of VS1 has recently gone up in value by 20% over the past three years, and may even reach a 30% increase this year! Round-shaped diamonds are the only ones that have perfect proportions defined. They set the standard for all other diamond shapes. That is one reason why this magnificent brown diamond has such an impact in the market recently.

These beautiful brown, 1-carat diamonds come with a Certificate of Authenticity and range in price somewhere between $3500 and $5000 (USD).

Investing in coloured diamonds is well-worth the time, guaranteed!