When Marilyn Monroe arrived at the 1953 premier of the movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” it was more than just the actress’ pulchritude that set tongues wagging; the glamorous film icon was wearing an iconic diamond – the 24 carat yellow Moon of Baroda – that brought the beauty of colored diamonds firmly into public view. While diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, for years fancy color diamonds were regarded as an elusive chum who rarely, if ever, came to visit. Their rarity and their sometimes stratospheric price tag kept them out of the hands of all but the most rich and famous, but with the increased acceptance of brown and yellow diamonds as a thing of beauty, this rarified view of fancy color diamonds is changing, as IDEX Magazine Editor-in-Chief Danielle Max discovers.
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All images courtesy of Rio Tinto Diamonds |
Chances are I will never own a red diamond; in fact, most likely I will never even get to see a red diamond up close. The same goes for a blue diamond (with the exception of a visit to the Smithsonian Museum of course), nor, sadly, will I get the chance to examine a green diamond from a favorable distance. While I have had the pleasure of attending the Rio Tinto Argyle Pink Diamond Tender, I am also – probably – destined never to own one of these stones either. When it comes to color diamonds, it’s not just the hue that’s fancy. These stones have pretty impressive prices to match their luscious tones.
As Alan Bronstein, one the world’s most renowned experts on fancy colored diamonds and a collector for more than 25 years, confirms, prices have been climbing for years. “In 1980, the psychological ceiling for fancy colored diamonds was $100,000 per carat,” although he admits that there was always an exception to that figure. Fast forward to 1986 when the 0.95 carat purplish-red sold for $926,000 per carat and, to quote Bronstein, “everybody went a little crazy with pricing every color and there were prices all over the place.” Today, he says, with results at public auctions revealing figures in excess of $1 million per carat and approaching $1.5 million per carat, “there is literally no ceiling on rare fancy colors.” But, he says, “in order to make a fabulous price, you need a fabulous customer.”
Although the majority of fancy color stones never come on the market and their sales are not made public, celebrities tend not to be backwards about coming forwards with their diamond purchases. Everyone knows about the (now infamous) Benniffer pink diamond that Ben Affleck bought for his then fiancee Jennifer Lopez. The $2.5 million price tag of the 6 carat emerald cut diamond ring made it a true made-in-Hollywood piece. Footballer David Beckham reportedly bought his pop star wife Victoria a $1.8 million, 10 carat pink diamond as a peace offering after he admitted having an affair, while basketball player Kobe Bryant topped both Beckham and Affleck with the $4 million, 8 carat fancy purple diamond ring he bought for his partner as an affair-to-forget gift.
With prices running in excess of $100,000 per carat for pink diamonds, sadly, these stones are also out of the running for most. For consumers interested in looking beyond white diamonds, brown and yellow diamonds are the most likely entry into the fancy colored diamond market. In fact, color collector Bronstein recommends that first-time buyers start with the less expensive colors to train their eyes to the subtleties of the more valuable colors. “Don’t look for anything specific in color, shape or size,” he says. “Go on an adventure, shopping, exploring, researching. Don’t buy the first thing you see. Don’t buy something because it is cheap. Buy because it is beautiful to you. It can be inexpensive, but when someone tells you it’s cheap, they want to get rid of it.”
Unlike white diamonds where bigger is often better, fancy color diamonds tend to be on the small size. As Bronstein says, “size and clarity are not an issue if you want variety. Many rare colors don’t come in sizes over 2 carats. Buy the things that are attractive to you and make your collection a reflection of your style, taste and personality. You cannot go wrong.”
The trend towards fancy colored diamonds has been helped in a large part by the marketing of yellow and brown diamonds as desirable objects. Much of this demand has come about as a result of the strategic marketing conducted by Rio Tinto, especially when it comes to brown diamonds. As the company said in its latest annual diamond review, “Rio Tinto Diamonds’ marketing efforts have created a niche for brown diamonds and have driven its growth for the past 20 years.”
And it’s a big demand. Rio Tinto produces around $150 million of rough champagne (light brown) diamonds annually. Currently, the greatest demand comes from the U.S., but the company says that as champagne diamonds gain prominence in northern India, in particular, it plans to increasingly market champagne diamonds in that country.
Rio Tinto, owners of the Argyle mine in Australia, which is a major supplier of champagne and pink diamonds, recently released its latest range of champagne diamond promotional materials, aimed at supporting retailers, educating consumers and opening new distribution channels.
The new marketing material positions champagne diamond jewelry with “those consumers who like to express their individuality and appreciate the finer things in life,” the company said in a statement. The brochure, sales training program, website and other promotional materials are aimed at showcasing the full color palette, as well as communicating the versatility and accessibility of champagne, or brown diamonds.
By educating existing diamond consumers about champagne diamonds, Rio Tinto hopes to increase consumption of fancy colored diamonds. The company says that those customers who tend to be the most open to non-white diamonds are those who are “experienced” diamond users who are looking for something new when it comes to jewelry. Their marketing plan associates champagne diamonds with status, good taste and romance. They are generally purchased for fashion rather than for investment by what they term, “financially independent, style-conscious” women.
Rebecca Foerster, who is responsible for the implementation of Rio Tinto Diamonds new champagne diamonds promotional materials, comments, “Champagne diamonds have not only brought the trend for color diamonds to an accessible price point, they have added an edge of modernity that is not easily achieved with white diamonds.”
In addition, the company says that although champagne diamonds are not a new phenomenon, they are gaining considerable cachet with high- profile jewelry designers and diamond retailers in many areas of the world.
The color trends at this year’s trade shows, especially Baselworld and JCK Las Vegas, which emphasized brown diamonds as the hue of the moment, bear this out. Le Vian Corp. predicted in their fashion show, which highlighted the trends for ‘09, that brown diamonds (coupled with pink gold) are going to be a big seller, and other jewelers are betting the same.
Lest you think that brown diamonds are entry-level goods only, Bronstein is quick to come to their defense. “People shouldn’t be led into thinking that there is a hierarchy of the best diamonds. Some of my favorite stones have been magnificent, gorgeous brown diamonds. People shouldn’t think that if it’s not blue, green or pink it’s not a good stone.”
Larry West of New York-based L.J. West is an expert with more than three decades of dabbling in color behind him. Although he declares himself to be an expert in the more exotic diamond colors, West is enthusiastic about the increased interest in the more accessible colors, especially grey diamonds. “It’s a segment that is going to grow because it’s new and different,” he says.
“One of the interesting things that people are doing is experimenting with silver and grey diamonds, which are being used in place of black diamonds.”
With grey diamonds running at around the same price per carat as brown diamonds they are certainly accessible and, as West says, there are only so many things designers can do with the more expensive stones. “It’s fun to do more and more with colors, to come up with a pretty design that can be repeated for a large audience.”
While the color experts see browns, yellows and greys as the best entry points into the colored realm, Blue Nile is taking the approach that fancy color diamonds, even in the rarer colors, can and should be available to everyone. In May 2007, the online diamond retailer entered the fancy colored diamond market. “Historically, fancy colored diamonds were limited to an elite few,” Blue Nile CEO Mark Vadon said at the time of the launch. “Because of the value, access and selection we provide to consumers, fancy colored diamonds are now available to everyone.”
The company promised that prices for fancy colored diamonds would surpass Blue Nile’s normal 20 to 40 percent savings. Even with this discount built in, these stones are still very expensive. At the time of writing, Blue Nile was featuring a 0.54 carat fancy vivid green radiant-cut diamond for $153,300; a 0.55 carat fancy purplish red radiant-cut diamond, worth $350,000 as well as a 10.38 carat fancy yellow cushion-cut diamond for $185,345.
Although he believes that any avenue of selling fancy colored diamonds will improve sales for everyone because it helps to keep them top of mind, Bronstein is a little wary of online sales avenues, such as Blue Nile, and cautions that colored diamonds cannot be translated into specifications that make it a commodity. “Colored diamonds must be seen by the customer and the most beautiful diamond, whoever gets to show it, will win.”
Larry West concurs with Bronstein’s view. “You can’t look the value of colored diamonds up on a chart,” he says. “Certificates only give you a general idea about the stone. Really you have to go through a learning process and talk to somebody you trust, whether it is a jewelry or the Natural Color Diamond Association. You can’t look at colored diamonds in the same way you do white diamonds. It is more like art, they have nuances and differences that need to be described and understood. Buying colored diamonds can’t be done from a cookie cutter chart.”
The overall opinion is that colored diamonds should be available to anyone who wants to buy them. “Of course they should be and are available to everyone,” says Bronstein. “The desirability must be based on the taste of the consumer and the ability of the designer to draw the magic out of the stones. There will always be the aspirational concept, as the colored diamonds that we all hear and read about are the rarest and most valuable gems and are worn by the most beautiful celebs. That creates aspirational desire in all of us.”
Rio Tinto’s Diamonds Annual Review 2008 said that demand for fashion jewelry had slowed, while demand for very high-end jewelry and fancy colored diamonds had actually improved. Similarly, Natural Color Diamond Association Executive Director Robert L. May urges retailers to get in on the color act. “Every retailer should take advantage of the growing popularity and demand for natural color diamonds,” he says. “Now is the time to get in on the ground swell of this fast growing category. Natural color diamonds give the retailer the ability to distinguish themselves from the competition; with the complexities of hue, tone and saturation, each natural color diamond is truly unique, which increases [retailers’] margins and profitability.”
Although it is gaining in popularity, the natural color diamond market remains extremely small. “Colored diamond is certainly gaining in attention,” says Bronstein,” but, “if someone is looking for a diamond, most often an engagement ring, colorless or white will be the choice 99.5 percent of the time. When someone is looking to be different and self-expressive then they might pay more attention to colors.”
Although not everyone can afford a diamond for every color of the rainbow, the increased acceptance of the beauty of brown and yellow diamonds means it need not be a white diamond world.