Overall, prices of fancy color diamonds increased 77% over the last decade, according to a report by the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), an Israel-based diamond market information provider that tracks diamond prices in Hong Kong, New York, and Tel Aviv.

Color diamonds are those with natural pink, blue, yellow, or other brilliant hues, in contrast to colorless diamonds, otherwise known as white diamonds.

The last decade, especially 2017 and 2018, were marked by some record-breaking sales of rare fancy pink diamonds.

In 2017, Christie’s Hong Kong sold The Pink Promise, an oval-shaped, 14.93-carat fancy vivid pink diamond, for HK$250 million (US$32.5 million, or US$2.2 million per carat). The record price per carat for a pink diamond was set in 2018, when The Pink Legacy, a 18.96-carat rectangular fancy vivid pink diamond, fetched CHF50.4 million, or US$2.6 million per carat, at a Christie’s sale in Geneva.

The CTF Pink Star, a 59.60-carat fancy vivid pink diamond, remains the most expensive pink diamond in the world. It sold for HK$553 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong in 2017.

Color Diamonds Saw a Decline in 2019

Last year, there was a 1.4% decrease in the FCRF’s Fancy Color Diamond Index, mainly due to a 5.4% decrease in yellow diamonds.

“The declines we witnessed in 2019 in the fancy color index are a ripple effect caused by the double-digit decrease in the colorless category in the last few years,” Jim Pounds, a FCRF advisory board member, said in the report. “From the mining perspective, we are currently experiencing a shortage in high quality fancy color rough, and we therefore feel quite optimistic about the future.”

The supply of rough pink diamonds will be significantly reduced with the planned closing of the Argyle Diamond Mine in Australia, a source of over 90% of pink diamonds in the world. The mine is set to close by the end of 2020.