Jewellery Focus June 2018 | Page 11

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MONTH IN REVIEW

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DIAMONDS

Fancy colour diamond prices show stability

The Fancy Color Research Foundation ( FCRF ) has reported that fancy colour diamond prices showed stability in most categories in Q1 2018 .

The Fancy Color Diamond Index ( FCDI ) indicated an overall rise of 0.1 % in Q1 2018 for fancy color diamonds across all sizes and saturations .

Continuing their trend from 2017 , prices of blue fancy color diamonds increased by 1 % in Q1 2018 , with fancy intense and fancy vivid blues outperforming .

During the same period , both yellow and pink fancy color diamond prices declined slightly by 0.1 %. In comparison , in Q4 2017 the prices of yellow and pink declined by 0.6 % and 0.4 %, respectively .

Most notably , in Q1 2018 the two carat vivid pink and blue diamonds showed the highest rate of appreciation in their respective color categories .

On a year-on-year basis , when compared to Q1 2017 , the FCDI increased by 0.1 %, with blue prices up 5.0 % and yellow and pink prices down by 1.7 % and 0.6 %, respectively .

According to the IDEX price index , colorless diamond prices rose by 1.6 % in Q1 2018 .

The Fancy Color Diamond Index is published by the non-profit Fancy Color Research Foundation ( FCRF ), and tracks pricing data for yellow , pink and blue fancy color diamonds in three key global trading centers – Hong Kong , New York and Tel Aviv .

FCRF Advisory Board member , Ishaia Gol​ , said : ​ “ In the past 12 months or so prices of rare fancy color diamonds of between 0.30 to 0.70 carat have increased much more than those of large fancy color diamonds , due to the relatively smaller total amount per stone .”

WATCHES

Phillips auctions historic white gold Omega wristwatch

Watch auction house Phillips has achieved a new world record for the highest result achieved for an Omega timepiece sold at auction .

The auction house sold a white gold Omega watch formerly owned by American singer Elvis Presley , for a final result of $ 1.8m (£ 1.3m ). The wristwatch had been gifted to the ‘ King of Rock ’ n ’ Roll ’ by RCA Records in 1961 to commemorate the sale of 75 million records .

Several collectors attempted to acquire the item , however the Omega Museum purchased the watch to bring it back to their headquarters in Bienne , Switzerland , as the latest addition to a growing collection .

Aurel Bacs , senior consultant at Phillips , said : “ It was a true honour to offer at auction this superb vintage Omega wristwatch owned and worn by Elvis Presley , the ‘ King of Rock and Roll ’. The world record result stems from the incredible combination of Elvis ’ s global appeal , its extraordinary provenance , and one of the most sought after collectors ’ brands - Omega .”

Technology has already significantly contributed to improving transparency within the diamond industry

Amit Bhansali , managing director , Rosy Blue NV

The price of gold rose by

£ 25

to £ 979 / oz in May

BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

Carats . io raises $ 1.6m in first financing round

Carats . io , an Israeli blockchain startup in partnership with the Israel Diamond Exchange , has raised $ 1.6m (£ 1.1m ) in its first funding round led by Net Capital Ventures , an Israeli venture capital fund .

Carats . io is issuing the first digital coin backed by diamonds . The coin , Carat , which is 100 % redeemable for diamonds , is currently in presale .

The company reports that it is registering large subscriptions for the token through the company website . The executive team has just completed a road show in Asian capitals - Hong Kong , Singapore , Korea and Japan - for a private sale of the Carat token .

According to CEO Avishai Shoushan , the firm is effectively creating the first-ever viable secondary market for diamond commerce , combining the stability of diamonds with the liquidity of cryptocurrency .

Shoushan said : “ We are bringing diamonds – the world ’ s most precious commodity – to financial markets as a safe , transparent and liquid financial asset .”

International accounting firm Ernst & Young is auditing the diamonds backup ratio . Carats . io uses state-of-the-art big data and blockchain technologies to tokenise the diamonds .

June 2018 | jewelleryfocus . co . uk JEWELLERY FOCUS 11