Forbes 2009 – Pastor Geneve
admin on May 28th 2009
Perhaps you find the blue and red diamonds to be out of your price range. I have just the solution. A company called LifeGem reportedly can turn the cremated remains of a loved one into a diamond. It just so happens that the most expensive offering is a red version. It may only cost you $25,000. Check with the manufacturer for current pricing.
Rare colored diamond sales have been solid as a rock in recent months. In fact, the Wittelsbach blue diamond sold for $24.3 M USD at Christie’s in London on Dec. 11, 08, setting a record price for any diamond or jewelry sold at auction.
Christie’s Rahul Kadakia believes rare colored gems will remain stable at respectable levels. When it comes to colored diamonds, especially blues and pinks, those are rare in any market.
Says Lisa Hubbard “ Those appear to be holding their value, and they have not been subject to the ups and downs of the white diamond market. Sotheby’s had also logged strong results in its recent colored diamond sales. An oval shaped, vivid yellow diamond weighing 36.99 carats, IF, sold at Sotheby’s in New York in December 08 for $71,870 per carat.
These gems are still the most sought after by famous private purveyors like the William Goldberg Diamond Corp. In New York, which has produced some of the most extraordinary colored diamonds in history, including the 30 carat $50 million Blue lili and the 5.11 carat, $20 million Red Shield, the largest red diamond ever graded by the GIA.
I’ve heard different talk totally about mines shutting down. Says Barry Berg of the WGD Corp. adding that he expects pink and blue to become even scarcer. Its very hard to find blue today, rough or polished. Yelow is a little more available, but orange, I haven’t seen in ages.
We recently sold a 10 carat intense pink for $8 million, we also sold a bracelet of 58 carats of fancy colored diamonds for close to $3 million.
The company has moved from selling stones into jewelry and is pushing deeper into markets like Brazil, Russia, China and India in the hunt for now clients. Back in NY its opening a boutique jewelry store.
Clients have started asking the Goldbergs whether they should consider buying diamonds as an investment and a shelter from plunging markets. Sotheby’s Hubbard is not surprised. Diamonds have an international market and they are seen as a way to preserve wealth, she says.
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