The overall price of fancy colour diamonds declined by a marginal 0.1% in Q2 2019, according to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF) which maintains a Fancy Color Diamond Index (FCDI). The pink diamond category showed a slight increase, while prices of blues and yellows declined during the period.

FCRF reported that the prices of pink diamonds were up 0.4% as compared to the previous quarter, and 1.5% higher than the same quarter a year earlier. Yellow diamonds displayed a decline of 0.8% dip over the earlier quarter and a 4.4% drop as compared to a year earlier, while Blue diamonds were down 0.3% compared to Q1 2019 and up by 1.1% over Q2 2018.

Giving further details, FCRF reported that prices of all Fancy Vivid Pinks rose by 1.3% during the quarter, with Fancy Vivid Pinks of 2 and 3 carats showing a rise of 2.8% and 2.6% respectively. However, Pink diamonds of 1 and 1.5 carats presented a price decrease of 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively.

In the Blue category, the overall decline was driven mainly by a 0.9% fall in diamonds of 8-10 carats. All Blue diamonds of 1-3 carats presented a significant increase, with a 2.3% rise in the 1.5 carat category, in all saturation levels. The highest rise of 4.8% was reported in the 1.5 carat Fancy Vivid Blue.

The fall in the prices of Yellow diamonds was primarily influenced by the 1-3 carats categories, with the sharpest downturn of 2.7% being in the 1 carat category. However, the Fancy Yellow 8 carat category had a surprising upturn of 2.1%, compared to a 4.8% decrease in Q1 2019.

FCRF Advisory Board member Eden Rachminov said: “The recent price declines in the white goods created an overall negative psychological effect on all diamonds. This is probably the reason we also witnessed a decline of 0.1 per cent in the Fancy Color Index.”

The FCRF tracks pricing data for Yellow, Pink, and Blue fancy colour diamonds in major global trading centers for these categories – Hong Kong, New York, Geneva and Tel Aviv.