Featured in Sydney Morning Herald, 14th Nov 2013.
Michael Neuman, the general manager of Sydney-based Mondial Pink Diamond Atelier, says the 59.60-carat pink diamond that recently sold for a record $89 million in Geneva reinforces the exclusivity of coloured diamonds.
"They are an incredibly rare natural product and unlike a house, for example, cannot be recreated," he says.
Coloured diamonds have until recent decades been almost exclusively held by royalty and collectors. They were among the few luxury items to continue appreciating in value during the 2008 global financial crisis.
Diamonds with red (pink), green or blue hues can command up to 100 times the price of non-coloured stones of similar size and quality, Neuman says, while more common yellow diamonds may be 10-20 times the price.
Their desirability is further enhanced by a trend for wealthy celebrities to purchase them for wedding rings.
Despite the massive premium over regular stones, Neuman says coloured diamonds are not out of the reach of ordinary Australians.
"You'll be looking at a much, much smaller stone for the same price, but we have coloured diamonds from $1500 all the way up to $1 million," he says.
One such diamond currently offered for sale by Mondial Pink Diamond Atelier is the "Charisse", which is a 0.89 carat "Vivid Purple Pink" stone set into a ring that retails for "close to $1 million".
As well as gaining in popular appear, coloured diamonds are also being sought out as a recession-proof investment. "People consider them a very safe repository of money," Neuman says.