Discovering The Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF) has been a real eye opener in providing a professional’s perspective on these brilliant diamonds. As a non-profit foundation devoted to the enrichment of the Fancy Color Diamond industry, the FCRF is positioned to create a new generation of experts, passing on generation’s worth of knowledge, expertise and appreciation for these magnificent heirloom stones. Whoever is involved in buying and selling natural fancy color diamonds should explore more about the FCRF and take advantage of the free trial they are offering at the moment, Here.

New Tools Give Insight into Fancy Color Diamonds

We all know that Fancy Color Diamonds are rare, but never knew exactly how rare, or which factors determined rarity. The FCRF grants its exclusive members access to the “holy grail of talking points” a retailer needs during a sale of a fancy color diamond. Their Digital Rarity Report uses an algorithm that provides you with the ability to determine how many diamonds, with similar characteristics to the one in hand, enter the market over time. I was surprised by how small that number is! For example: I used the FCRF Digital Rarity Report and I discovered that a 4.84 carat Vivid Blue Pear shape Internally Flawless diamond, enters the market only once every 5-6 years. I also learned that only one out of 10 million polished diamonds over one carat has those same characteristics.

4.84 carat, Fancy Vivid Blue, Pear, IF (original FCRF image)

I have learned that Fancy Color diamonds are extremely rare  even with a larger number entering the market yearly . For example, a 1 carat Fancy Intense Yellow, Pear shape, VS clarity, presents characteristics that are only seen in 1 out of 9000 polished diamonds! I was also educated about some of the famous Fancy Color diamonds mined or sold in the last two decades and learned that a diamond similar to the Oppenheimer Blue –  a 14.62 carat, Fancy Vivid Blue, Emerald cut, VVS1 clarity diamond –  enters the market once every 25 years or more!. Personally, I think this is a crucial piece of information and I’m planning to further explore the rarity of fancy color diamonds. What I have learned thus far has given me a deeper understanding and appreciation of the fancy color diamond. I recommend all diamond professionals to discover more on the rarity by clicking Here.

The Oppenheimer Blue (original FCRF image)

Price Index & Valuation

Because I see so many diamonds, many retailers ask me what the retail buying price of a specific diamond should be. With colorless diamonds that information has been accessible for everyone, but with Fancy Color Diamonds there has been no benchmark for wholesale pricing, so prices were all over the place. The FCRF has developed two very important services regarding FCDs value:

The Fancy Color Diamond Price Index tracks the pricing behavior of Yellow, Blue and Pink Fancy Color Diamonds,  1 carat and above, from 2005 up to the present. The data is inputted constantly, and the index is updated quarterly. This gives Fancy Color Diamonds professionals — buyers, dealers, retailers, etc. — insight into the price behavior, as well as a generator of selling talking points and investment data. This is a game-changer for the Fancy Color market. Two examples of the information available are these graphs – comparing the price behavior of the category of blue, pink, and yellow diamonds, and comparing 5 carats Fancy Yellow and 5 carats Fancy Vivid Yellow diamonds, starting at 2005!

All Sizes and Intensities in Blue, Pink, and Yellow Diamonds

Fancy Yellow vs Fancy Vivid Yellow Graph

The FCRF also has a dedicated B2B Valuation Service, based on profound and wide industry knowledge extracted from real time B2B transactions . The valuation methodology is based on the professional analysis of the unique color characteristics of a diamond. Whenever you need an objective and reliable valuation for a natural fancy color diamond, you can always find it at the FCRF – Here.

Expert’s Lounge – and Pre-Auction Analysis

The FCRF’s members-area also includes an Expert’s Lounge, featuring research articles, expert analysis, selling tools and insights into industry trends. One great feature of the Expert’s Lounge is the Pre-Auction Analysis, offering a close-up look at pieces up for the offering at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, from New York, to Geneva to Hong Kong. The Analysis includes exclusive unprocessed preview photos, a rarity assessment, and an objective critique of selected natural Fancy Color lot up for auction. FCRF’s experts will make specific distinctions that are relevant to prospective buyers, such as hidden disadvantages that are not specified on the GIA report.

Live Auction Broadcast The FCRF saves you time and travel by bringing auctions to you with the Pre-Auction Analysis and the Live Auction Broadcasts. You will get FCD analysis by email and real-time auction results directly to your WhatsApp. Join me along with hundreds of other diamond professionals who enjoy the FCRF auction service. Simply sign up for your free trial now Here.

Here are a few examples of the articles:

• Pre-Auction Analysis – HK May 21st includes an exclusive video and analysis of the 15.81 carats, Fancy Vivid Purple-Pink “Sakura” diamond.
• The article ‘Fancy Color Diamonds, A Guardian Angel for the Next Generations’ provides a peek behind the scenes of Fancy Color Diamond investment platforms.

The FCRF is the gateway to fancy color trading and became the foremost authority for Natural Fancy Color Diamonds. The means provided by the FCRF cover untapped aspects that are essential for any business who chooses to stay relevant in the world of Fancy Color. As opposed to the largely available information about colorless diamonds provided by the GIA, and prices published by other channels, the reliable knowledge about Natural Fancy Color Diamonds is limited and incomplete. The FCRF is here to close this gap with innovative tools, advanced services and useful commercial data. The unique knowledge provided to their members imparts expertise and legitimacy where specialty is a must.

Professionals from all parts of the industry are joining as FCRF’s members and monetizing from the membership and acquiring the valuable means needed to handle Natural Fancy Color Diamonds.
The FCRF clients and members are retailers, Jewelry designers, high-end jewelry brands, diamond traders, mines, financial institutions; investment companies, family offices and more.
Any business who deals with fancy color diamonds can apply for membership: https://www.fcresearch.org/members/

Diamond in normal range are colorless through light yellow. Fancy color diamonds are yellow and brown diamonds that show color beyond Z color or exhibiting any other color face-up. Such rare stones come in almost every color of spectrum but most importantly in blue, pink, green and red. As discussed in diamond grading article, diamonds in range of D-Z showing decrease in value by exhibiting color and the exact opposite happens for fancy color diamonds, their value increase by the strength and purity of color.

Graff Lesotho Pink Diamond, 13.33ct rough diamond

Pink Diamond: appearance of pink color in diamonds is a result of enormous pressure that leads to structural damage to the crystal lattice of the diamond after it has begun to grow. This distortion in the crystal structure cause internal graining which results in pink color zones to appear.

In fancy color diamonds, Color outweighs all other Cs (clarity, cut and carat) in determining the value. Color has three attributes that help grading it properly: hue (the appearance of red, blue, green, or anything in between), tone (the relative lightness or darkness of a color), and saturation (the relative strength or weakness of a color). The color
appearance of a diamond is the result of a combination of these three attributes.

The Okavango Blue; 20.46ct Type IIb ‘Fancy Deep Blue’ yielded from 41.11 rough diamond

Blue Diamond: Color of blue in diamonds is result of presence of Boron during formation. Boron is mostly available in larger quantities closer to the earth surface, therefore its presence in earth mantle where diamonds are formed is extremely rare, and that is why blue diamonds are so scarce.

The GIA color grading system uses nine grades to distinguish color ranges. These are: Fancy Vivid, Fancy Intense, Fancy Deep, Fancy Dark, Fancy, Fancy Light, Light, Very Light and Faint. For fancy colored diamonds, the general rule of thumb is that the stronger the hue, the more valuable the stone becomes.

Mouawad Dragon Diamond 54.21 fancy vivid yellow diamond yielded from 105ct rough diamond.

Yellow Diamond: Yellow in diamonds is caused by presence of nitrogen within the stone that filters blue/violet range of visible light spectrum and reflects yellow. Nitrogen is abundant in earth crust, it can often find a way into diamond during formation process.

Diamond types: pure carbon is the essential composition of diamonds. Many diamonds certain trace elements such as nitrogen or boron, acquired naturally during the formation. Availability of such trace elements and other imperfections are important because they cause the color and ultraviolet fluorescence reactions in diamond. The presence or absence of these lattice defects can affect a diamond’s appearance. Initially diamonds were divided in two types: Type I diamonds contain nitrogen and Type II diamonds show pure absence of nitrogen.

GIA Diamond Type Classification

Type Ia:
These diamonds contain nitrogen atoms in clusters. Approximately 95% of natural diamonds are type Ia. They normally vary from near-colorless to light yellow.  These so-called “cape” diamonds derived their name from diamonds that were initially mined in or near Cape Province, South Africa.

Type Ib:
These diamonds also contain nitrogen, but as isolated atoms instead of clusters. They are often bright yellow in color, and are extremely rare. The trade sometimes refers to these colors as “canary.”

Type IIa:
These diamonds have no measurable nitrogen or boron impurities; they are usually colorless but they can also be gray, light brown, light yellow or light pink.  Among all diamonds, those that are type IIa are chemically the most pure.

Type IIb:
These diamonds are known to conduct electricity. The trace element boron is responsible for most diamonds that are blue or grayish blue in color.

GIA Continuous Hue Circle

GIA Ligher Tone Hue Circle

GIA Darker Tone Hue Circle

Some of the 27 hue names include modifiers such as purplish or yellowish. A modifier in a hue name does not denote a lack of potential strength, or purity, to the color. Light or dark colors at low levels of saturation are challenging to discern. Thus, fewer terms are used in these areas (as evident in the hue circles for lighter and darker tone). These terms may be modified in one of two ways. The first is the use of the word pink as a substitute for red in the medium to light tones and moderate to weakly saturated versions of reddish purple, red-purple, purple-red, purplish red, red, orangy red, and reddish orange. The other is the addition of brown/brownish or gray/grayish to the description. As colors transition darker or weaker, they appear more brown or gray. Warm hues (such as yellow, orange, or red) appear browner as they darken or weaken; cool colors (such as blue or green) appear grayer. In each instance, the fancy grades and color descriptions represent a range of color sensations, not a “single” color sensation.

Aurora Green; 5.03ct fancy vivid green diamond sold at Christies for $16.8m

Green Diamond:Green color is caused by exposure to radiation, this natural phenomenon occurs when diamonds come in close contact with radioactive uranium from rocks near earth surface. In rare cases radiation can be found in groundwater sources. Research shows green diamonds are more common in alluvial deposits because diamonds transported to sources of radiation which is more likely than for radiation to exist near a kimberlite source of diamond.

In fancy color diamonds, clarity is not a determining  factor in value. Even diamonds with many inclusions that result in a low clarity grade are sought after by collectors as long as they display an attractive color face-up. Inclusions that can threaten the durability of diamond would lower the value significantly.

Size and shape are two aspects that can influence the color, larger diamonds usually have deeper pavilion that facilitates the farther light can travel in it. This can often lead to a richer, more intense color. The style of cut can also play a key factor in color. Usually mixed cuts like the radiant cut can intensify the color in diamonds and radiant  cut provides (including majority of fancy cuts) provides higher yield from the rough than a standard round brilliant.

For more information on fancy color diamonds, download GIA Colored Diamonds Color Reference chart booklet.