The Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF) announced that in the fourth quarter of 2018, fancy color diamond prices remained stable in all sizes and saturations.
The Fancy Color Diamond Index (FCDI) shows that in the fourth quarter, prices of fantasy blue rose by 0.8%. The Fancy Intense Blue took 1.9%. Pink diamond prices remained stable: the 2-carat pink category was up 1.1%, led by the Fancy Vivid Pink which rose 2.1%, and the 10-carat Fancy Pink lost 0.8%. During the same period, fancy yellows saw a general decline of 1.5% but the 5-carat Fancy Vivid Yellow increased by 1.2%, said the FCRF.
On an annual basis, in 2018, the Fancy Color Diamond Index rose 0.2%. Blues prices rose 4.1% (up 9.1% for 1 to 1.5 carats), yellow prices were down 2.1% (fancy yellows lost 3.9% ) and pink prices remained stable. In 2018, all Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid took 0.7% and 1.5%, respectively, while the Fancy category fell by 1.4%.
Jim Pounds, a member of the CFRF Advisory Committee, said, “Over the past three years, we have seen a significant amount of Vivid Yellow coming to the market, mostly from the Misery Pit at the Ekati mine in Canada. However, as the mine moves from open pit to underground exploration, the number of stones available in 2019 will be significantly reduced. We therefore expect a slight rise in prices for Vivid Yellow.”
The Fancy Color Diamond Index is published by the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), a non-profit organization, and tracks fancy yellow, pink and blue pricing data in three major international trading centers: Hong Kong, New York and Tel Aviv.