Unusual diamond sales attracting top prices

found October 15, 2007 at http://www.theage.com.au

The Tycoon Cut is the most exciting new diamond look to come along in the new millennium.  

The secret of this brilliant stone is the nine crown facet design which creates a diamond-shaped table.  It's like having a diamond within a diamond. 

Unusually diamonds cut, uncut and fancy-coloured diamonds are becoming increasingly popular - and have proved a shot in the arm for the small but increasingly marketing-savvy diamond industry.

Diamond giant De Beers started offering rough diamonds two years ago as part of its Talisman Collection.

(Foto found at fullersjewelrystore.com)

The collection also includes brown diamonds. One in five pieces sold featured rough diamonds, said David Fardon, chief executive of Perth-based jewellery retailer Linneys.

Speaking at the World Diamond Conference in Perth, Mr Fardon said unusual diamonds were now the most sought after.

"Luxury customers are interested in the point of difference: they (rare and different diamonds) are perceived as being exclusive and subtle, and higher prices can be justified by the uniqueness of the stones," Mr Fardon said."

Pink diamonds had particularly risen in price and will continue to do so, he said.

"They are, relative to white diamonds, some 20 to 25 per cent times the price of an equivalent sized white diamond.

"The price escalation has been quite enormous in the past 18 months and the rarity has led to them becoming collectors items ... they are being seen as the family heirloom to pass on.

"They don't have to be large because they have a uniqueness in colour."

Rough diamonds remain a niche market at the moment, he said.

"We have a variant in between (the cut and rough diamond), the Stern Star, which is organic in style and is about looking casually natural.

"It's a rough stone but with some faceting applied to it."

Other new patent cuts include The Mont Blanc, The Novo and The Tycoon.

Certification is also important to purchasers, guaranteeing the gem is conflict free: that it was not mined in a war zone then sold to fund a warring party's activities.

© 2007 AAP

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