It’s Official! 2017 Was a Record-Breaking Year for Fancy Color Diamonds.

2017 was a year of sensational auctions as the headlines were full of awesome jewels and dizzying figures that went with them.  And for natural fancy color diamonds, it became another record breaking year.

The GIA reported that in 2017, more than $1.1 billion worth of extreme top-end diamonds, colored gems and jewelry, were sold at auctions by the world’s most renowned houses.  And that the highest bids throughout the year went, as usual, to the large, natural color diamonds – mostly pink and blue.

This shows that popularity of investing in diamonds is going strong, and the color diamonds continue to dominate the highest-demand.

• April, 4 at Sotheby’s in Hong-Kong:

After five minutes of bidding, a 59.60-carat, internally flawless, fancy vivid pink diamond, "The Pink Star", broke the record of the highest price ever paid for a jewel - $71.1 million ($1.19 million per carat).

It was bought by Chow Tai Fook, a Hong Kong-based retail jewelry chain, and it was renamed as "The CTF Pink Star" after the company’s initials.

Another color diamond that stood out among the rest was a fancy orangy pink diamond  ring - cut cornered rectangular, modified brilliant cut diamond - weighing 11.44 carats.  It was sold for $2,792,790.

But the final record setter was none other than an extremely fine, fancy intense blue diamond, and diamond ring, weighing 3.13 carats.  And what was the record breaking price? It was $4,790,858 ( $1.53 million per carat).

•  May, 16  at Sotheby’s in Geneva:

“The Apollo and Artemis Diamonds” became the most valuable pair of mismatched earrings ever sold at auctions.  The price tag that made the pair famous was US$57,425,478.

This mismatched pair is composed of - a pear shaped, fancy vivid blue diamond, weighing 14.54 carats, (sold for $42,087,302), and a pear shaped, fancy intense pink diamond of fine color, weighing 16.00 carats, (sold for $15,338,176).

On the same day, fancy intense purplish pink diamond ring from Piaget, weighing 7.04 carats, achieved the price of $13,245,750.

And here are more world-wide 2017 diamond blockbusters worth checking out:

• April 25,  2017 - Sotheby’s, New York:

A fancy vivid green diamond, weighing 1.64 carats, flanked by two cut-cornered triangle shaped diamonds, weighing approximately 0.65 carats, fetched $1,212,500.

•  October 3, 2017 - Sotheby’s, Hong-Kong:

 An emerald-cut fancy vivid yellow diamond, weighing 20.03 carats, mounted in 18 carat white gold, was sold for $2,086,400.

What could $1,118,720 get you? For one thing, a modified cushion shaped, fancy vivid purplish pink diamond, weighing 2.86 carats, flanked by two shield shaped diamonds, mounted in white and pink gold.

•  November 14, 2017 - Christie’s, Geneva:

“Le Grand Mazarin”, a 19.07 carats, fancy light pink, which had been part of the French crown jewels, was handed to a buyer willing to pay $14.5 million. 

• November 15, 2017 - Sotheby’s, Genève :

A 33.63 ct fancy light pink diamond mounted as a ring by Harry Winston around 1970 achieved the record price of  $12,818,240

• November, 28, 2017 - Christie’s, Hong-Kong:

"The Pink Promise”, a 14.93 carats, oval shaped fancy vivid pink, VVS1, was sold for more than  $32.1 million (approximately $2.13 million per carat). This stone was recertified from fancy intense pink to fancy vivid pink by the GIA after its cutting from 16.21 carats to 14.93 carats.

• December 5, 2017 - Sotheby’s, New York:

A 5.69-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, VVS1, flanked by baguette diamonds and mounted in a ring, fetched more than $15.1 million.

• December 6, 201- Christie’s, New York:

A hefty sum of  $12.6 million was paid for two pear modified, brilliant cut fancy vivid blue diamonds, weighing approximately 3.36 and 2.71 carats, and respectively VVS2 and VS1, mounted in a platinum ring.

As no two color diamonds are exactly alike, the natural fancy color diamond market is truly unique.  And the numbers reflect the value of its originality and worth.  Fancy color diamonds prices increased 122% in the past decade.

From January of 2009 to the end of September 2016 alone, the price of pink diamonds went up 170%.  And pink and blue diamonds were up about 90% and 70%.

The Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF) published the results for Q4 2017 and stressed that, “Continuing the trend throughout 2017, prices of fancy blue color diamonds in Q4 increased 2,6% with fancy intense and fancy vivid blues performing best, especially in the 1ct an 5ct categories.”

Auctions this year, 2018, continue to reflect the ongoing trend of this wise investment, as investors from all over the world actively invest in natural fancy color diamonds.

One thing in the future may not be hard to predict.  Looks like 2018 will again be a record breaking year for natural color diamonds.  

 By YDCDL - Langerman Diamonds

Sources:  GIA, Christie's , Sotheby's, The Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), United States Gold Bureau. 

Picture courtesy: Christie's , Sotheby's