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At Hard Carbon Inc. we work with individuals across North America to help them find the best investment opportunity. We enjoy working with people to educate them on the broad choice of diamonds available in today’s exciting diamond market. Many of our clients start out their investment journey assuming that clear diamonds are they best starting point – in fact, pink diamonds are a far superior choice over clear diamonds. At Hard Carbon Inc. we are industry experts on the fancy colored diamond market and can find the best investment for you.
Clear Vs. Pink Diamonds – How They Differ
People are usually most familiar with clear diamonds. In our modern culture clear diamonds are used in the majority of jewellery such as engagement rings and diamond earrings. Before starting out in diamond investing it is important to understand how the different diamond varieties are created.
Clear diamonds for example are made of pure carbon. When carbon is trapped in the earth’s crust and placed under the right intensity of pressure (approximately 50,000 times the pressure of the surface of the earth) and a very high temperature (approximately 1600 Celsius) a piece of carbon bonds with four other atoms. The bonds created in diamonds are held in such a tight form that light passes around them completely, which results in a clear diamond. Diamonds (clear or fancy colored) are highly valued because it can take billions of years for them to form and then they are trapped far below the earth’s surface impossible for humans to reach, even with the most advanced mining methods. Diamonds are only brought to the surface (where they can be mined) by volcano eruptions called Kimberlites. The last Kimberlite eruption occurred over 13 million years ago.
Why are Pink Diamonds so Valuable?
The process by which fancy colored diamonds are created is similar but pink diamonds are rare even in the realm of fancy colored diamonds.
The majority of fancy colored diamonds gain their color from the presence of trace chemical elements. Yellow or orange diamonds are caused by trace elements of nitrogen, blue diamond’s contain boron and black diamonds contain trace amounts of pyrite, graphite or hematite.
So what trace element do pink diamonds contain? That’s where things get interesting…pink diamonds aren’t caused by the addition of trace elements at all. Instead the pink colour is caused by a very unique formation in the diamond’s crystal lattice. This unique formation alters how light is reflected through the diamond and causes the pink color to appear.
Pink diamonds are a far superior investment than clear diamonds as they are significantly rarer. Clear diamonds for example can be found in numerous mines across the globe. The current leaders in clear diamonds are Russia, Canada, Botswana, Angola, South Africa and the Congo. With numerous mines operating obtaining a clear diamond, while still expensive, is more accessible than the pink diamond market. Pink diamonds used to be found in mines in Brazil, South Africa and Australia. A seismic shift happened in the pink diamond market in the end of 2020. The Argyle Mine in Australia closed after 37 years of operation. It is estimated that the Argyle Mine produced 90% of the world’s pink diamonds and produced 865 million rough cut pink diamonds in total.
The closure of the Argyle mine has caused the pink diamond market to explode with people grappling to get their hands on the final stones from this legendary mine. Diamonds from the Argyle mine are also known to have the most intense colors which makes them stand out from other mines. Argyle pink diamonds are said to cost 10 to 20 percent more than pink diamonds found in other mines. Murray Rayner, a geologist who worked at the Argyle mine was quoted in 2020, “To call and Argyle pink rare is an understatement. It’s so much rarer than rare – it shouldn’t exist”.
Clear vs. Pink Diamonds: Supply and Demand
Whether you should invest in clear or pink diamonds comes down to the basic economic principle of supply and demand factor. If the product you are supplying exceeds demands that is problematic, if your demand surpasses the supply there are profits to be made. So while the clear diamond supply exceeds ones available, pink colored diamonds are in even higher demand and have much less supply available. An important factor to keep in mind when choosing to invest in clear vs. pink diamond is that for a clear diamond to be valuable it must conform to each of the ‘4C’s’. It must be graded high with the Gemological Institute of America in: cut, clarity, color and carat. For a clear diamond it most importantly must have a high carat count, clear diamonds of low carat will not increase in value over time. One carat is the average size of an engagement ring in North America. One carat diamonds are easily upsized which means even if it is a flawless one carat it won’t increase in value. For a clear diamond to be a good investment it must be a flawless high carat weight.
Pink diamonds on the other hand can be of a lower carat size and even lower quality and still be far more expensive. The intensity of color is the main factor when investing in pink diamonds. Pink diamonds in the last 20 years have produced results that most investors can only dream of. In 2003 a 3.58 carat intense pink diamond sold for $115,000 USD. Less than ten years later in 2011 a slightly lager 4.59 carat intense pink diamond sold for a whopping $2.8 million. That’s a 443% increase in value over just 8 years.
A great (and fun) way to determine whether you should invest in clear vs. pink diamonds is to take a look at the auction world. Out of the ten most expensive diamonds every sold at auction only three were clear – the rest were fancy colored diamonds. One of the most incredible stones sold at auction was owned by Evelyn H. Lauder. In 2012 at Sotheby’s her fancy pink diamond ring designed by Oscar Heyman sold for $8,594,500.00. That calculates to $1,313,144.00 per carat and went five times above asking. By comparison this is eight times the price per carat of a clear diamond.
Pink Diamond Investing: Let’s Get Started
At Hard Carbon Inc. we have a network of fancy colored diamond suppliers across the globe and source the highest quality pink diamonds for our clients. Due to our extensive network we can also often find buyers when clients wish a fast sale turnaround. To be successful in the diamond market one needs to do their research and work with trusted partners. At Hard Carbon Inc. we are honored to work with clients to get them started on this excited investment journey.