Vivid Yellow Diamonds - An Investment?

Fancy Color diamonds make up only 0.1% of global supply of diamonds, therefore, they are all RARE, no matter what color. But if we now review the part of the spectrum that is only fancy color diamonds, we will find that Yellow is not as rare as pink, blue and red, which probably make up less than 0.1% of the total of fancy color diamonds…in other words, they are extremely rare!


In the world of fancy color diamonds, yellow is considered the everyday bread and butter for sales largely due to supply. But, let’s analyze the rarest within the yellow hue; Fancy Vivid Yellow. Vivid Yellow is a rare depth of color, a rich color, full of life. Some Vivid Yellows are so special, they are also known as Zimmis….


Look at the comparing Fancy Vivid Yellows:


To the left, a Zimmi, to the right, a regular Fancy Vivid Yellow.

 A Zimmi yellow diamond ring and a regular Vivid Yellow diamond ring

A 5.91 ct TW Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond ring and a 1.25 ct TW Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond ring



Both are Fancy Vivid Yellow, but the diamond on the left is the Zimmi. But as we all know, in fancy color diamonds, it is all about the color first, and therefore the Zimmi diamond will attract more value.


Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamonds as Investments


Recently, an investor approached us in order to acquire a very important and special Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond on his behalf, and asked us to provide an in depth analysis. We needed to show how this depth of color has performed against other investment vehicles and other commodities, similar to the analysis we did about pinks and blues, but for the last 10 years and for yellow. So I went to work…


As every client is dealt with utmost confidentiality as in any major deal, I cannot give too many details about what he bought, what he paid, or what he did with the stones. I had to analyze how Fancy Vivid Diamonds have performed over the last 10 years, as well as all related stones that sold for over $100,000 per carat.


For a yellow diamond, an amount like this is big. At the request of the client, I compared the performance of Fancy Vivid Yellow to the Asian and North American markets as well as the major commodities that the investment community covers; silver, gold, platinum and oil, as well as Berkshire Hathaway, COKE, and in this instance, Samsung (the famous electronic company and the number 1 competitor to our dearest Apple).


In the last 10 years, 15 Fancy Vivid Yellows have sold over $100,000 per carat, and all are in various size categories. The smallest diamond was a 5.14 carat with VS2 clarity, the largest being the 110.03 carat pear shaped diamond sold in Geneva back in 2011 which broke a record that year. All are Fancy Vivid Yellow. See chart below, organized in price order from lowest to highest).



Carat

Size

Diamond

Clarity

 Total Price

Price per carat

Auction date

Auction house

Location

Lot Number

10.39

VVS1

 $    1,072,553

 $          103,229.36

November 18, 2004

Christie's

Geneva

605

9.22


 $        969,699

 $          105,173.43

November 15, 2000

Sotheby's

Geneva

452

96.62

VS2

 $  10,847,200

 $          112,266.61

November 13, 2013

Sotheby's

Geneva

373

110.03

VVS1

 $  12,361,558

 $          112,347.16

November 15, 2011

Sotheby's

Geneva

506

20.66

IF

 $    2,409,243

 $          116,613.89

November 27, 2012

Christie's

HK

1835

6.16

IF

 $        748,026

 $          121,432.79

October 7, 2013

Sotheby's

HK

1910

13.11

IF

 $    1,595,674

 $          121,714.26

April 10, 2008

Sotheby's

HK

2222

12.02

IF

 $    1,534,696

 $          127,678.54

November 29, 2010

Christie's

HK

2060

10.3

VS1

 $    1,375,443

 $          133,538.16

November 12, 2014

Sotheby's

Geneva

467

21.4

IF

 $    3,137,155

 $          146,596.03

May 14, 2008

Christie's

Geneva

383

12.16

IF

 $    1,904,042

 $          156,582.40

November 10, 2010

Sotheby's

Geneva

518

100.09

VS2

 $  16,347,847

 $          163,331.47

May 13, 2014

Sotheby's

Geneva

507

9.03

VVS1

 $    1,537,615

 $          170,278.52

December 1, 2009

Christie's

HK

2454

5.14

VS2

 $    1,054,647

 $          205,184.24

October 6, 2010

Sotheby's

HK

1807

20.8

VS1

 $    5,184,702

 $          249,264.52

November 13, 2013

Sotheby's

Geneva

357




Next we analyzed the overall performance of the Vivid Yellow category against other various Asian and North American indices, prominent companies, and commodities. See below price increase over time as well as detailed timeline comparison and overall graph comparison.




Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamonds VS. Global Indices & Commodities

Global Market

May 18, 2004

April 9, 2006

December 9, 2008

October 6, 2010

November 15, 2011

October 7, 2013

November 13, 2013

May 13, 2014

November 12, 2014

Fancy Vivid Yellow

 $31,269.38

 $38,871.60

 $71,870.78

 $119,092.70

$112,347.16

 $121,432.79

$112,266.61

$163,331.47

 $133,538.16

Hong Kong

11,072.39

16,471.78

14,753.22

22,880.41

19,348.44

22,973.95

22,463.83

22,352.38

23,938.18

Shanghai

          1,555.44

          1,342.96

   2,037.74

               2,655.66

                       2,529.76

               2,174.67

                       2,087.94

              2,050.73

                       2,494.48

Japan

       10,711.09

       17,563.37

                   8,395.87

               9,691.43

                       8,541.93

            13,853.32

                    14,567.16

           14,425.44

                    17,197.05

Taiwan

          5,557.68

          6,781.94

                   4,472.66

               8,284.03

                       7,491.06

               8,333.66

                       8,104.26

              8,817.94

                       8,918.95

South Korea

             741.99

          1,402.36

                   1,105.84

               1,903.95

                       1,886.12

               1,994.42

                       1,963.56

              1,982.93

                       1,967.27

Singapore

          1,722.80

          2,552.05

                   1,754.58

               3,190.07

                       2,811.58

               3,136.59

                       3,166.74

              3,222.43

                       3,283.71

Malaysia

             783.27

             943.71

                       835.17

               1,479.61

                       1,477.22

               1,776.82

                       1,782.49

              1,866.08

                       1,816.24

USA Dow Jones

          9,968.51

       11,120.04

                   8,691.33

            10,967.65

                    12,096.16

            14,936.24

                    15,821.63

           16,715.44

                    17,612.20

NASDAQ

          1,897.82

          2,339.02

                   1,547.34

               2,380.66

                       2,686.20

               3,770.38

                       3,965.58

              4,130.17

                       4,675.14

S&P 500

          1,091.49

          1,295.50

                       888.67

               1,159.97

                       1,257.81

               1,676.12

                       1,782.00

              1,897.45

                       2,038.25

BRK.A

 $    88,105.00

 $    89,200.00

 $           107,500.00

 $       125,136.00

 $               114,001.00

 $       169,455.00

 $               172,150.00

 $      191,826.00

 $               218,101.00

Samsung

 $  463,066.26

 $  639,588.87

 $           459,154.40

 $       775,525.96

 $               978,963.02

 $   1,424,278.05

 $           1,407,416.82

 $  1,399,545.63

 $           1,230,000.00

Silver

 $               5.74

 $            12.50

 $                        9.80

 $                 23.00

 $                         34.00

 $                 21.75

 $                         20.70

 $                19.48

 $                         15.60

Gold

 $          377.00

 $          596.00

 $                    763.00

 $           1,347.00

 $                   1,782.00

 $           1,322.00

 $                   1,274.00

 $          1,296.00

 $                   1,164.00

Platinum

 $          820.00

 $      1,094.00

 $                    804.00

 $           1,694.00

 $                   1,630.00

 $           1,386.00

 $                   1,440.00

 $          1,454.00

 $                   1,204.00

Oil

 $            40.73

 $            68.74

 $                      42.07

 $                 83.23

 $                         99.37

 $               103.03

 $                         93.88

 $              101.70

 $                         77.15



Yellow Diamond Price and Index Comparison

Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond prices compared to other indices over a 10 year period





Yellow Diamond comparison over time to other indices

Comparing Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamonds to other indices over 9 points in time




From our analysis, we concluded that the stone in question was worth exploring as an investment diamond, due to color, size, and clarity. The final element was to help the client come to a valuation method.


At the end, the client has acquired the diamond in question for a good value, while keeping the seller also happy. It was a win-win situation!


Please send me any question on diamond investments and I will do my best to help each and every inquiry.

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