Investing in precious gemstones doesn’t have to be as intense a process as you saw in Uncut Gems. Diamond investors have three options – buying diamond jewellery, buying loose diamonds through a diamond broker, or investing in a diamond fund – though the latter means you won’t get to enjoy the beauty of the diamond whilst you wait for your money to grow. Savvy investors link up with specialised diamond brokers, some of which deal only in certain diamond colours due to the expertise needed to handle each colour. Investing in diamond jewellery could be the way to go, but this would require pieces with high-carat weights diamonds, not a run-of-the-mill tennis bracelet. High jewellery brands like family-owned Le Vian offer beautiful wearable jewellery pieces with ultra rare coloured diamonds. Le Vian CEO Eddie Le Vian attributes the rise in lab-grown diamonds for this increased interest in coloured diamonds. He said the clientele who can afford the high prices want to set themselves apart from the crowd with unique coloured diamonds.
Levinson said scientists, geologists and eventually professionals in the industry first cottoned on to the investment potential of the stones because they had a higher understanding of the rarity and beauty. A great example was an investment in a red diamond made by Mrs Moussaieff – known as the “Moussaieff Red Diamond”. The stone is the only red diamond in existence over five carats (5.11 to be exact) and is one of an estimated 30-70 red diamonds to exist in the mined diamond market. The sale in 2011 was allegedly settled at $8 million, and now experts estimate it could be worth up to $100 million.
To be early on the trends like this, Levinson said grey and white diamonds are going to be the next big thing, “we can already see there's a market growing for it.” Colourless diamonds are often referred to as white, but white diamonds have an almost cloudy tint, which isn’t appreciated for its beauty, and explains why there isn’t much of an investment value yet. She suggests first understanding which diamond you like the look of, then weighing this against the rarity. For those who want a plain Jane diamond, Levinson said a 10-carat D flawless diamond is a “vanilla investment.”
Levinson makes a good case for investing in diamonds. “I don't know what a Birkin bag looks like, in 200 years. A diamond has been here for 23 billion years, what's another 1 billion? They’ll probably outlive humanity,” she said.
