Fancy Color Diamond Price Index Slightly Up In Q1 2017, Says FCRF

(IDEX Online) – The Fancy Color Diamond Index for the first quarter of 2017 indicates pricing stability across most fancy color diamond categories, according to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF).

The main exception was blue fancy color diamonds, which saw a 1.9 percent price increase in the first 3 months of 2017, continuing the trend of 2016. During the same time, yellow and pink fancy color diamond prices remained largely unchanged. Overall, the Fancy Color Diamond Index for all shapes and sizes was up 0.2 percent for the period.

The strongest performing price categories during Q1 2017 were fancy intense and fancy vivid blue diamonds across all carat sizes.

On a year-on-year basis, when compared to Q1 2016, the Fancy Color Diamond Index is up 0.7 percent, with fancy blue and fancy pink diamonds up 5.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, and fancy yellows down 2.5 percent.

As in Q4 2016, across all color segments fancy intense and fancy vivid stones demonstrated robust price increases, which were offset to some extent by price declines of color diamonds in the “Fancy” category.  

The FCRF tracks pricing data for yellow, pink and blue fancy color diamonds in three key global trading centers – Hong Kong, New York and Tel Aviv.

FCRF Advisory Board chairman Eden Rachminov said, “Highly coveted fancy intense and vivid blues are challenging to find in the market, while interest and demand for these categories continue to grow. This trend is likely to continue well into 2017 as owners react to supply shortages with price hikes.”