diamond_investment

Expert Interview: Is Buying A Diamond A Good Investment?

Due to  unstable market and increase of  inflation, investing in diamonds can be profitable to you as an investor. The price of diamonds is being more stable as the price of any other gems. De Beers calls “forever diamonds” stones that are valuable as an investment no matter how fluctuating the market is.

Also, you can buy high-quality diamonds in jewellery or high jewellery and gift it to your relative or pass it to your heir, this can also be considered an investment.


Expert Interview

– Good afternoon everyone, today we are having Mr. Uri with us. Mr. Uri works in the diamond trading and today he would be sharing his knowledge and experience. Thank you very much for being with us today.

– Thanks for having me.

– First question is: which diamonds are the best investments?

– Well, when you are buying a diamond, you can buy it for several reasons. Either because you are looking at it as a return on investment in a short or long-term or you can buy it as an experience (e.g. ring) for a life project that you are having. I would say as a real investment we do have things that are called “Investment diamonds”.  They are quite high grade, they have a good colour and they are very rare diamonds. Let’s say like anything, diamonds are priced based on rarity and so depends on the offer and demand. So, if you are talking about extremely high-quality diamonds, then obviously it is more rare and you would get less supply, which will make then the value of the diamond increase. If you are buying it as an investment, then you are betting on the fact that the scarcity would not change. You are either buying it with the idea to maintain the value or to try to make ROI on your investment. That usually happens with very big stones. So, we are talking about 10ct and above. We are talking about very high amounts, prices for “investment diamonds”. So, obviously if you are buying it as an investment, then you would buy those.  If you are buying it to maintain value, then you can always buy a smaller diamond, that is also rare. Everything depends on scarcity.

– How much you would say is approximate price for a 1ct diamond?

– It is a very vague question. If you look at diamonds, yes, it is gemstone by itself as a category. It does have a lot of criteria that comes into value. I can’t give you a specific number. There is something called “4Cs” by GIA (GemologicaL Institute of America), which is a reference, when we are talking about buying white diamonds. So, you base yourself on the colour, on the carats, on the cut and the clarity – these are the 4Cs. And depending on these criteria, prices can vary a lot from more colourless diamonds to a more less clear diamonds, let’s say. 1ct diamond can go quite high, especially if we are talking about even coloured diamonds, there is also that that comes in, when you talk about diamonds. So, I can’t really answer you with the number, other than the fact that it is also based on something called “Rapaport”. The Rapaport is kind of like an index that all diamond dealers use and we use that to establish the price. It is like a market. There is a market with supply and demand that changes everyday. We get a sheet and you can evaluate the price based on that.

https://youtu.be/pDyP70rLgRk

– And why diamonds have no resale value?

– I wouldn’t say that they have no resale value. They can have lower resale value like everything if you are buying something. If you go to buy watch, car or anything, then once you buy it, then you are factor in a lot of things. You factor in: the brand, the margin that person is making and etc. When you are talking about buying a diamond, you are talking if it is a professional jeweller, if it is someone in the industry, if it is a dealer, if it is a private person and then customer. Obviously, the margins that will differ. And there is a markup on the price that we are buying diamonds at. So, based on that, you are going to get a cheaper offer for what you bought initially. If you buy a brand, you are already tripling the value of what you are buying. If you are buying any ring, you are obviously buying an added value into the brand name. Just a diamond from a random jeweller, usually if it is bought  at the fair price, then you would not have a big loss, that is for sure. You would not loose all of your money, but you will facture the fact that the person made a margin on you, unless you are buying it straight from a diamond dealer, which most people would not do, because they don’t have the access to that market.

– Ok, thank you. Would you say that the old diamonds are more valuable?

– Well, I am not an expert in old diamonds. I know that there are different cuts that exist. I work a lot with different dealers. And I have recently got an offer for something called ” old mine cut”  that do not exist anymore. “Old mine cut” is a cushion cut (looks like a square diamond) today. They don’t have necessarily more value. They are rare, because obviously they are old. Again there are a lot of things that vary into it. The wight of an old diamond would not be the same compared to the new diamond. It is a very complicated thing. It wouldn’t necessarily be a good investment to buy an old diamond more than a new one.

– Generally speaking, would you say that diamonds are considered to be a good investment nowadays? 

– Well,  for coloured diamonds you would see a clear curve  if you look at the last auctions in the past few years. The biggest one is being in Geneva at the end of the year, then you have a lot of potential for investment in big diamonds. We  are talking about 10ct and usually high-colour grades usually “D”, “E” and internally flawless diamonds with type 2, which means that it is the highest category of diamonds colour as a white clear diamond. Or you could say that the blue, yellow , pink, red, green diamonds have “fancy” colours. There are a lot of coloured diamonds, but mostly people don’t know about them. Some of them are extremely rare, which makes them extremely valuable. Red diamond is actually the most rare diamond that ever exists. So, that’s the most expensive diamond you can find, carat to price wise we are talking. But, there has been a big trend on blue or pink diamonds. Some jewellers actually made a business out of it. The value we are talking are 7 figures and ahead.

– Ok, thank you very much Mr. Uri for sharing with us your knowledge and for your time also. We would let you know if visitors of the blog would have any questions. Have a nice day.

– Thank you, have a nice day.


I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as well as watching the interview and I am looking forward to further discussing this topic with you below in the comments.

elapshina

Hi! My name is Ekaterina and I am currently studying Online Business and Marketing at Hochschule Luzern. Throughout my career, I have worked in hospitality, business development, and marketing. Finance is one of my new found passions and I learn more and more about it every day. In this blog, I would like to offer you insights about alternative investments that I have gathered from experts in this area.

View all posts by elapshina →

19 thoughts on “Expert Interview: Is Buying A Diamond A Good Investment?

  1. Good evening. An interesting article, since women and diamonds are close concepts. As for investments in this industry, when buying jewelry now, it is unlikely that in 50 years they will be in fashion. Purchased diamond can be perceived as an investment, but, as was rightly said here, it all depends on its qualities (purity, size, etc.). But in this case, it should be borne in mind that the price coefficient also changes over time.

    1. Helena, that’s a great comment! This is why I would recommend to everyone to buy a jewellery with the quality diamonds, so after it can become an investment and you can get great ROI on it.

    2. Are IGI certified diamonds of good quality? Do they have good resale value?

      How will you compare IGI with GIA and AGS?

  2. In my opinion, a very interesting article. Indeed, Diamonds investing is a profitable investment.

  3. Investing in diamond jewelry for me is not an investment in the literal sense. I can make such a gift to my beloved woman, but it is unlikely to buy it for investment. In a few years, he will not be in demand even for the price of his purchase.

    1. Vlad, thank you for your comment! Indeed, it is an incredible gift to buy your partner a diamond.

  4. Is diamond investment really worth it for a private collector in term of resale value? As in general diamonds do not have an appreciating value?

    1. Very rare diamonds or famous diamonds (ex. “Blue Moon” diamond) have appreciated in value over the past few years. And they are usually bought by private collectors, however, they represent, very large investment amounts. The other reason people can invest in diamonds – it is easier to transport your asset.

  5. Colored diamonds have been rising immensly in the past few years ! Especially nice blue and pink ones at auctions

    1. Completely agree! I am curious how the market would be with regarding red diamond, since it is the most expensive nowadays.

  6. An interesting type of investment but i would agree that a diamond for sure needs to be very rare to be an investment as is and not lose its demand over time

    1. I agree with you, especially to buy very rare diamonds high amount of the investment is needed.

  7. So rare chance to listen to the opinion of master of jewelry! Thanks for this opportunity ✨

  8. For me investing in colored diamonds(especially black diamonds )are great option. Natural fancy colour diamonds are very rare. Investment in rare things have been always a good choice for me.

  9. Hello Elapshina,

    How can we get in contact with you?

    With best regards,

    Yvonne

  10. It literally make sense that investing in diamond is not that good, you can’t get much in return. But i feel diamond jewelry are something makes you feel lavish its eternal beauty. so, one who love to have diamond jewelry can definitely buy.

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