Fancy-color diamond prices edged down 0.5% year on year in the third quarter, according to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF).
The index dropped 0.1% compared to the previous quarter, the FCRF said Monday. Smaller, commercially popular diamonds, particularly those weighing 1 to 1.5 carats, saw stronger prices, while stones of 8 carats and above recorded slight declines. Buyers continued to favor more intense colors, with fancy vivid the only grade to post an overall increase, it added.
Pinks – the only color that improved– gained 0.1% in the three months that ended September 30, the second consecutive quarterly gain. Performance for fancy-vivid-pink diamonds weighing 1.5 carats climbed 2.2%, the strongest outcome during the quarter, while fancy-vivid ones weighing 1 carat rose 1.6%.
Blue fancy-color diamonds slid 0.2% compared to the previous month and 0.6% from the same time last year. Fancy-blue diamonds weighing 1 carat improved 1.4%, while those of 1.5 carats dropped 1.8% and 1-carat, fancy-intense blues fell 1.7%.
Meanwhile, prices for yellow fancy-color stones slipped 0.4% for the quarter and 0.9% year on year. Fancy-intense yellows weighing 3 carats grew 1.3%, while 8-carat, fancy-intense yellows lost 2.3%, 10-carat, fancy-vivid yellows dipped 2.2%, and 8-carat, fancy-vivid yellows were down 1.8%.
“While the wider diamond industry is still finding its feet, the fancy-color segment is delivering the stability the market needs, just in time for the holiday season,” said Sahag Arslanian, director of Arslanian group. “A year of steady pricing across every major color gives retailers and their clients confidence that desirability is matched by lasting value.”
The results are based on FCRF’s quarterly analysis of pink, blue and yellow diamond prices across three intensity grades and seven carat weights, with data gathered from major trading centers in New York, Hong Kong, Geneva and Tel Aviv, the foundation added.
Since the FCRF began collecting figures in 2005, pink diamonds have advanced 390%, blue diamonds have climbed 239% and yellows have gained 46%, it said.
Image: Fancy color diamonds. (Fancy Color Research Foundation)
