Fancy Color Diamonds to remain the top Wealth Concentration Investment Vehicle

What comes to your mind with the term Wealth Stealth? Getting rich fast? A quick buck? Hidden wealth? Well, I am referring to the concept of wealth concentration, the ability to store as much wealth as possible, in as little space as possible, in a physical form. Why would someone be interested in this? This is desired when you want to transport or transfer much of your wealth from one location to another, as quickly and as discreetly as possible, like a stealth fighter plane. The stealth fighter plane does just that; moving quickly from one location to another in the most discreet manner, undetected…

I have written articles about this concept on numerous occasions for Leibish & Co., so the visuals may seem familiar.

The concept of wealth concentration is not new at all. In fact, monarchs and other prominent figures in history used diamonds and other precious gems to measure their great wealth in a “treasure” box. This isn’t just a manufactured scene for movies and cartoons! It is a well known fact from throughout history, since the beginning of time. Lords and Princes, Kings, Dukes, Queens and Ladies all kept precious gems on hand not just for their beauty but also for their value and concentration of wealth that they provided. Even merchants and people of less noble birth kept gems on hand, and for the very same reasons. On  numerous occasions, they were  able to barter their gems for passage on ships, for food for their constituents, and even for their lives.

The old trend of concentrating money into gems has been reborn during the past 25-30 years, when fancy color diamonds have been revealed to be not just valuable but also a rare type of precious stone. The combination of these facts is a key reason that they produce so much value in the market. In fact, the value of fancy color diamonds has not stopped increasing, especially the value of the rarest and most unique diamonds – those are truly one of a kind! This phenomenon, while kept secret for so long so that it could be enjoyed by the few instead of by the many, is finally becoming common knowledge and allowing an increase in the demand for these diamonds, although the supply is only diminishing, as diamonds are an unrenewable natural resource.

In order to visualize and to substantiate this claim, I went back in history and researched fancy color diamond prices in auction houses, going back to 2003 and reviewing it in increments of 2 years. I decided to compare it to other, more traditional precious commodities such as gold and platinum, and added a more trendy alternative investment such as a work of art, which investors had started utilizing much earlier than diamonds. Of course, I also added unique colorless diamonds to the comparison. In order to level the comparison so that these very different things could be compared, I calculated each as the price per gram that the item realized. This meant finding out the weight of each item, calculating it in grams, and dividing the price by the total grams in order to deduce the price per gram. Diamonds have a standard conversion of carats to grams, and gold and platinum are weighed in a standardized measure per bar, so the only challenge here was finding out the dimensions of the painting (or sculpture in one case, calculating the total weight followed by finding out its weight per gram). This now allows us to compare all of them faithfully.

While searching online on both Christie’s and Sotheby’s websites for the price results for art and diamonds, I was able to find data going back to 2003. Although I would have preferred to have data going back further in order to asses the behavioral trends even more thoroughly,  for the purposes of this article, having 7 points in time is enough to show a consistent trend (one date each in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015).

It is absolutely shocking to see how much value in is 1 gram of a pink or a blue diamond as compared to gold, platinum, a colorless diamond, or the most expensive work of art.

 

2003 Wealth Stealth in Review

Working backward with the knowledge that on December 11, 2003, a 5.00 carat Fancy Vivid Blue diamond sold at auction for $2.2 million, I looked for the highest sale price that year at auction of a famous work of art (in this case, Modigliani’s Nu Couche), and a significant colorless diamond, in this case a 63.93 carat D color Flawless oval shaped diamond. I also took that day’s trading price for gold and platinum to complete the comparison’s effectiveness.

From the graphical presentation (which by the way, can be easily verified by anybody on Yahoo! Finance, sothebys.com, and christies.com), we see an interesting relationship between gold and platinum. Gold was valued at $13.06 per gram, while platinum was valued at $26.01- twice as much. I also chose the most expensive colorless diamond sold that year, and on that date,  a 63.93 carat, D color diamond with Flawless clarity, and it sold for a converted value of $329,354 per gram, substantially higher than gold and platinum. I also looked up at the most expensive works of Art that year, and guesstimated its weight per gram according to the size of the painting. I came up with an approximate value of $53,775 per gram (even if I had made a substantial mistake of calculation of 20%, it is still extremely far off from the colorless diamond). Now, we always say that we save the best for last. That year, a record was broken, and a 5.00 carat, Fancy Vivid Blue got auctioned off for an astounding price that converted to a value of $2,024,000 per gram. Being that it weighs less than 1/12th of the colorless diamond, yet is valued at more than 6 times per gram, it is astonishing that it sold for that much. And yet, as those well versed in the fancy color diamonds know, the value of certain fancy color diamonds is absolutely extraordinary.

2003From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2005 Wealth Stealth in Review

A short two years later, we can see that the relationship between gold and platinum is about the same, which is twice the value, and shows consistency. There is a 27% increase in wealth concentration for the colorless diamond, and just over a 21% increase in wealth concentration for the work of art. In this year, our most expensive colorless diamonds was a 50.01 carat D color potentially Flawless (meaning that an experienced diamantaire would have strongly considered repolishing it to bring up its clarity from Internally Flawless to Flawless) emerald cut diamond, a 3.10 carat Fancy Vivid Purplish Pink oval shaped diamond, and Canaletto’s famous painting ‘Venice, the Grand Canal). The most substantial and positive increase was for the Fancy Color Diamonds, where the wealth concentration showed an increase of more than 45% from the previous 2 years. I can only conclude that the desire of fancy color diamonds has increased during that time than any other alternative investment vehicle.

2005From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2007 Wealth Stealth in Review

The relationship between gold and platinum remains somewhat the same, just a small change, but both of them show an increase by almost 76% and 56% respectively, a major increase regardless. The most expensive colorless diamond sold that year was an 84.37 carat D color Flawless round brilliant diamond, the most expensive color diamond was a 6.04 carat Fancy Vivid Blue emerald cut diamond, and the mot expensive artwork was Rothko’s White Center.

2007From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

Interestingly, the value of the works of art did not change in a dramatic way, only increasing by a modest 12% over the 2 year period. The colorless diamond increased by a whopping 128% over that same period. In line with the behavior of the colorless diamond, the 6.04 carat Fancy Vivid Blue broke a record by increasing by over 124% during the 2 year period. If we compared the 2 top performers, the colorless diamond and the fancy color diamond to their values in 2003, the colorless diamond  increased by 191% while the fancy color diamond increased by 226%.

 

2009 Wealth Stealth in Review

In this year, we see further increases in value in every commodity except for the colorless diamond. Gold showed an increase of over 60%, and platinum increased by a modest 6%, most likely covering inflation. The most expensive colorless diamond sold that year was a 29.53 carat D color IF round brilliant diamond, the most expensive color diamond was a 5.00 carat Fancy Vivid Pink cushion shaped diamond, and the most expensive artwork was Raphael’s Head of Muse.

The colorless diamond got a big hit in value with its decrease of over 38%, although it also happens to be a much smaller diamond compared to the previous ones at under 30 carats. This may have possibly lead to less demand for it seeing as how it isn’t as large as the major  colorless diamonds sold previously, and size is one of the most important factors in colorless diamond demand. In the world of art sales we see the most major increase of value, an incredible 6481%.  Artwork made headway most likely to the size of the portrait, which allowed for an increase in wealth concentration. Fancy color diamonds continue to lead the pack with an increase of almost 64% over the 2 year period.

2009From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2011 Wealth Stealth in Review

In 2011 we see a continued momentum in price increase of gold and the price stability of platinum, most likely caused by 2008’s turbulent financial crisis. For the first time in our research, gold value is higher than platinum. The most expensive colorless diamond sold that year was the Elizabeth Taylor diamond (her engagement ring from Richard Burton)- a 33.19 carat D color Flawless emerald cut diamond, the most expensive color diamond was a 6.01 carat Fancy Vivid Blue cushion shaped diamond, and the most expensive artwork was Picasso’s Jeune Fille Endorme.

Colorless diamonds made a major push with a 124% increase from the 2 previous years. Artwork took a step back, not by overall price, but by the concentration of that price into a much larger painting. Fancy color diamonds also took a breather after such a long run increase since 2003 (a cumulative increase of 317%). Fancy color diamonds continued to lead the group, and colorless diamonds moved back into 2nd place (after being 3rd in 2009).

2011From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2013 Wealth Stealth in Review

In 2013,gold retreated slightly, coming down 15%, and platinum took back its spot ahead of gold. The most expensive colorless diamond sold that year was a 118.28 carat D color Flawless round brilliant diamond, the most expensive color diamond was a 59.60 carat Fancy Vivid Pink oval shaped diamond called the Pink Dream, and the most expensive artwork was Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucius Freud.

The colorless diamond record retreated 2%, after a major run from 2009. Artwork valuation increased based on an overall price paid, with a new record, yet due to the huge size artwork style called triptych, the wealth concentration has decreased to less than half. Fancy color diamonds underwent the same effect. A new overall record was broken for price earned at auction, but due to the size of the diamond and the financial capital needed, it too decreased in concentration valuation.
2013From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2015 Wealth Stealth in Review

In 2015, the 2 winners were fancy color diamonds (holding the top position since 2003) and artwork. Gold had a further setback with another 13% drop, while platinum fell by over 27% and took second place again behind gold. Colorless diamonds took a slight breather and remained above $1m per gram as they had since 2011. Artwork made headway with a 12 fold increase in value, which was caused by the size of the artwork that was sold, but it still made a new world record. Fancy color diamonds made a major comeback on a per gram value of above $10 million, a position it had back in 2009.

2015From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2017 Wealth Stealth in Review

in 2017, gold remained stable, while platinum lost almost 20% of its value compared to 2015. Colorless diamonds have lost some value with a decrease of 10% in wealth concentration ability, but lost almost 20% per carat value. Artwork took a big leap this year with an incredible sale of Leonardo’s last work held by private hands. the overall increase in terms of dollars was a fantastic 151% value increase since Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi was sold for $450 million and back in 2015, Picasso’s Les femmes d’alger sold for $179 million.

Fancy Color Diamonds have broken the 2009 record for wealth concentration. back then it was $10.83 million per gram, while this year it is $14.47 million per gram, a 33.6% increase.

From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2017 Conclusion

Based on 2017 results, the value of gold has slightly improved since 2003 with an overall value increase of 204%, a 5% improvement from 2015, while platinum continues its slide with an overall value increase of 16% down from 41%. Colorless diamonds has an overall value increase of 213% over the 14 year period, down from 234%. Artwork continues to be the major winner, but this is a tricky part since each work will be from different artists, and the canvas will be different, but in short, Artwork continues to thrive ( 3250% since 2003 compared to just 1011%). Fancy Color Diamonds continue with the trend we predicted last year and still lead the list for the most concentrated form of wealth, having overall value increase of 615% over the period up from 417%

our conclusion this year remains the same, go to the bottom line below!

2015 Original conclusion:

Our research encompassed major real asset valuation going back to 2003. Over the period in question, gold had an overall increase of 199%, platinum increased by 41%, colorless diamonds increased by 234%, artwork was a major winner with an overall increase of 1011% and fancy color diamonds made a total of 417% return. The most notable reason for this among many is the lack of education about and understanding of fancy color diamonds for the last 30 years or so, because it is only in the last 10 years that the market had started to understand and appreciate them. Fancy color diamonds lagged behind artwork investment for a very long time, and only in the past few years have they been gaining traction. I foresee that in the next 5-10 years, the broader market will be much more informed and educated about fancy color diamonds, and thus the influx of capital and investment dollars will be pouring into this niche. I am quite confident that we will see a major price breakthrough for the overall fancy color diamonds market, and even more so into the Investment grade diamonds market. Something tells me that we will see new and major record breaking prices and wealth concentration in the fancy color diamonds market faster than we think.

Fancy Color Diamonds to remain the top Wealth Concentration Vehicle.

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Fancy Color Diamonds to remain the top Wealth Concentration Investment Vehicle

What comes to your mind with the term Wealth Stealth? Getting rich fast? A quick buck? Hidden wealth? Well, I am referring to the concept of wealth concentration, the ability to store as much wealth as possible, in as little space as possible, in a physical form. Why would someone be interested in this? This is desired when you want to transport or transfer much of your wealth from one location to another, as quickly and as discreetly as possible, like a stealth fighter plane. The stealth fighter plane does just that; moving quickly from one location to another in the most discreet manner, undetected…

I have written articles about this concept on numerous occasions for Leibish & Co., so the visuals may seem familiar.

The concept of wealth concentration is not new at all. In fact, monarchs and other prominent figures in history used diamonds and other precious gems to measure their great wealth in a “treasure” box. This isn’t just a manufactured scene for movies and cartoons! It is a well known fact from throughout history, since the beginning of time. Lords and Princes, Kings, Dukes, Queens and Ladies all kept precious gems on hand not just for their beauty but also for their value and concentration of wealth that they provided. Even merchants and people of less noble birth kept gems on hand, and for the very same reasons. On  numerous occasions, they were  able to barter their gems for passage on ships, for food for their constituents, and even for their lives.

The old trend of concentrating money into gems has been reborn during the past 25-30 years, when fancy color diamonds have been revealed to be not just valuable but also a rare type of precious stone. The combination of these facts is a key reason that they produce so much value in the market. In fact, the value of fancy color diamonds has not stopped increasing, especially the value of the rarest and most unique diamonds – those are truly one of a kind! This phenomenon, while kept secret for so long so that it could be enjoyed by the few instead of by the many, is finally becoming common knowledge and allowing an increase in the demand for these diamonds, although the supply is only diminishing, as diamonds are an unrenewable natural resource.

In order to visualize and to substantiate this claim, I went back in history and researched fancy color diamond prices in auction houses, going back to 2003 and reviewing it in increments of 2 years. I decided to compare it to other, more traditional precious commodities such as gold and platinum, and added a more trendy alternative investment such as a work of art, which investors had started utilizing much earlier than diamonds. Of course, I also added unique colorless diamonds to the comparison. In order to level the comparison so that these very different things could be compared, I calculated each as the price per gram that the item realized. This meant finding out the weight of each item, calculating it in grams, and dividing the price by the total grams in order to deduce the price per gram. Diamonds have a standard conversion of carats to grams, and gold and platinum are weighed in a standardized measure per bar, so the only challenge here was finding out the dimensions of the painting (or sculpture in one case, calculating the total weight followed by finding out its weight per gram). This now allows us to compare all of them faithfully.

While searching online on both Christie’s and Sotheby’s websites for the price results for art and diamonds, I was able to find data going back to 2003. Although I would have preferred to have data going back further in order to asses the behavioral trends even more thoroughly,  for the purposes of this article, having 7 points in time is enough to show a consistent trend (one date each in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015).

It is absolutely shocking to see how much value in is 1 gram of a pink or a blue diamond as compared to gold, platinum, a colorless diamond, or the most expensive work of art.

 

2003 Wealth Stealth in Review

Working backward with the knowledge that on December 11, 2003, a 5.00 carat Fancy Vivid Blue diamond sold at auction for $2.2 million, I looked for the highest sale price that year at auction of a famous work of art (in this case, Modigliani’s Nu Couche), and a significant colorless diamond, in this case a 63.93 carat D color Flawless oval shaped diamond. I also took that day’s trading price for gold and platinum to complete the comparison’s effectiveness.

From the graphical presentation (which by the way, can be easily verified by anybody on Yahoo! Finance, sothebys.com, and christies.com), we see an interesting relationship between gold and platinum. Gold was valued at $13.06 per gram, while platinum was valued at $26.01- twice as much. I also chose the most expensive colorless diamond sold that year, and on that date,  a 63.93 carat, D color diamond with Flawless clarity, and it sold for a converted value of $329,354 per gram, substantially higher than gold and platinum. I also looked up at the most expensive works of Art that year, and guesstimated its weight per gram according to the size of the painting. I came up with an approximate value of $53,775 per gram (even if I had made a substantial mistake of calculation of 20%, it is still extremely far off from the colorless diamond). Now, we always say that we save the best for last. That year, a record was broken, and a 5.00 carat, Fancy Vivid Blue got auctioned off for an astounding price that converted to a value of $2,024,000 per gram. Being that it weighs less than 1/12th of the colorless diamond, yet is valued at more than 6 times per gram, it is astonishing that it sold for that much. And yet, as those well versed in the fancy color diamonds know, the value of certain fancy color diamonds is absolutely extraordinary.

2003From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2005 Wealth Stealth in Review

A short two years later, we can see that the relationship between gold and platinum is about the same, which is twice the value, and shows consistency. There is a 27% increase in wealth concentration for the colorless diamond, and just over a 21% increase in wealth concentration for the work of art. In this year, our most expensive colorless diamonds was a 50.01 carat D color potentially Flawless (meaning that an experienced diamantaire would have strongly considered repolishing it to bring up its clarity from Internally Flawless to Flawless) emerald cut diamond, a 3.10 carat Fancy Vivid Purplish Pink oval shaped diamond, and Canaletto’s famous painting ‘Venice, the Grand Canal). The most substantial and positive increase was for the Fancy Color Diamonds, where the wealth concentration showed an increase of more than 45% from the previous 2 years. I can only conclude that the desire of fancy color diamonds has increased during that time than any other alternative investment vehicle.

2005From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2007 Wealth Stealth in Review

The relationship between gold and platinum remains somewhat the same, just a small change, but both of them show an increase by almost 76% and 56% respectively, a major increase regardless. The most expensive colorless diamond sold that year was an 84.37 carat D color Flawless round brilliant diamond, the most expensive color diamond was a 6.04 carat Fancy Vivid Blue emerald cut diamond, and the mot expensive artwork was Rothko’s White Center.

2007From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

Interestingly, the value of the works of art did not change in a dramatic way, only increasing by a modest 12% over the 2 year period. The colorless diamond increased by a whopping 128% over that same period. In line with the behavior of the colorless diamond, the 6.04 carat Fancy Vivid Blue broke a record by increasing by over 124% during the 2 year period. If we compared the 2 top performers, the colorless diamond and the fancy color diamond to their values in 2003, the colorless diamond  increased by 191% while the fancy color diamond increased by 226%.

 

2009 Wealth Stealth in Review

In this year, we see further increases in value in every commodity except for the colorless diamond. Gold showed an increase of over 60%, and platinum increased by a modest 6%, most likely covering inflation. The most expensive colorless diamond sold that year was a 29.53 carat D color IF round brilliant diamond, the most expensive color diamond was a 5.00 carat Fancy Vivid Pink cushion shaped diamond, and the most expensive artwork was Raphael’s Head of Muse.

The colorless diamond got a big hit in value with its decrease of over 38%, although it also happens to be a much smaller diamond compared to the previous ones at under 30 carats. This may have possibly lead to less demand for it seeing as how it isn’t as large as the major  colorless diamonds sold previously, and size is one of the most important factors in colorless diamond demand. In the world of art sales we see the most major increase of value, an incredible 6481%.  Artwork made headway most likely to the size of the portrait, which allowed for an increase in wealth concentration. Fancy color diamonds continue to lead the pack with an increase of almost 64% over the 2 year period.

2009From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2011 Wealth Stealth in Review

In 2011 we see a continued momentum in price increase of gold and the price stability of platinum, most likely caused by 2008’s turbulent financial crisis. For the first time in our research, gold value is higher than platinum. The most expensive colorless diamond sold that year was the Elizabeth Taylor diamond (her engagement ring from Richard Burton)- a 33.19 carat D color Flawless emerald cut diamond, the most expensive color diamond was a 6.01 carat Fancy Vivid Blue cushion shaped diamond, and the most expensive artwork was Picasso’s Jeune Fille Endorme.

Colorless diamonds made a major push with a 124% increase from the 2 previous years. Artwork took a step back, not by overall price, but by the concentration of that price into a much larger painting. Fancy color diamonds also took a breather after such a long run increase since 2003 (a cumulative increase of 317%). Fancy color diamonds continued to lead the group, and colorless diamonds moved back into 2nd place (after being 3rd in 2009).

2011From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2013 Wealth Stealth in Review

In 2013,gold retreated slightly, coming down 15%, and platinum took back its spot ahead of gold. The most expensive colorless diamond sold that year was a 118.28 carat D color Flawless round brilliant diamond, the most expensive color diamond was a 59.60 carat Fancy Vivid Pink oval shaped diamond called the Pink Dream, and the most expensive artwork was Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucius Freud.

The colorless diamond record retreated 2%, after a major run from 2009. Artwork valuation increased based on an overall price paid, with a new record, yet due to the huge size artwork style called triptych, the wealth concentration has decreased to less than half. Fancy color diamonds underwent the same effect. A new overall record was broken for price earned at auction, but due to the size of the diamond and the financial capital needed, it too decreased in concentration valuation.
2013From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2015 Wealth Stealth in Review

In 2015, the 2 winners were fancy color diamonds (holding the top position since 2003) and artwork. Gold had a further setback with another 13% drop, while platinum fell by over 27% and took second place again behind gold. Colorless diamonds took a slight breather and remained above $1m per gram as they had since 2011. Artwork made headway with a 12 fold increase in value, which was caused by the size of the artwork that was sold, but it still made a new world record. Fancy color diamonds made a major comeback on a per gram value of above $10 million, a position it had back in 2009.

2015From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2017 Wealth Stealth in Review

in 2017, gold remained stable, while platinum lost almost 20% of its value compared to 2015. Colorless diamonds have lost some value with a decrease of 10% in wealth concentration ability, but lost almost 20% per carat value. Artwork took a big leap this year with an incredible sale of Leonardo’s last work held by private hands. the overall increase in terms of dollars was a fantastic 151% value increase since Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi was sold for $450 million and back in 2015, Picasso’s Les femmes d’alger sold for $179 million.

Fancy Color Diamonds have broken the 2009 record for wealth concentration. back then it was $10.83 million per gram, while this year it is $14.47 million per gram, a 33.6% increase.

From left to right: the value on this date of one gram of gold, in one gram of platinum, the highest value of the year of one gram of the highest selling colorless diamond and of one gram of the highest selling piece of art, and the value on this date of one gram of the highest selling fancy color diamond

 

2017 Conclusion

Based on 2017 results, the value of gold has slightly improved since 2003 with an overall value increase of 204%, a 5% improvement from 2015, while platinum continues its slide with an overall value increase of 16% down from 41%. Colorless diamonds has an overall value increase of 213% over the 14 year period, down from 234%. Artwork continues to be the major winner, but this is a tricky part since each work will be from different artists, and the canvas will be different, but in short, Artwork continues to thrive ( 3250% since 2003 compared to just 1011%). Fancy Color Diamonds continue with the trend we predicted last year and still lead the list for the most concentrated form of wealth, having overall value increase of 615% over the period up from 417%

our conclusion this year remains the same, go to the bottom line below!

2015 Original conclusion:

Our research encompassed major real asset valuation going back to 2003. Over the period in question, gold had an overall increase of 199%, platinum increased by 41%, colorless diamonds increased by 234%, artwork was a major winner with an overall increase of 1011% and fancy color diamonds made a total of 417% return. The most notable reason for this among many is the lack of education about and understanding of fancy color diamonds for the last 30 years or so, because it is only in the last 10 years that the market had started to understand and appreciate them. Fancy color diamonds lagged behind artwork investment for a very long time, and only in the past few years have they been gaining traction. I foresee that in the next 5-10 years, the broader market will be much more informed and educated about fancy color diamonds, and thus the influx of capital and investment dollars will be pouring into this niche. I am quite confident that we will see a major price breakthrough for the overall fancy color diamonds market, and even more so into the Investment grade diamonds market. Something tells me that we will see new and major record breaking prices and wealth concentration in the fancy color diamonds market faster than we think.

Fancy Color Diamonds to remain the top Wealth Concentration Vehicle.

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彩钻依然是集中财富的最佳投资工具

提到秘密敛财一词你想到了什么?快速致富?赚取快钱?隐形财富?好吧,我指的其实是财富集中的概念,是用尽可能小的空间以物质形态尽可能储存财富的能力。为什么会有人对此感兴趣?当你想如隐形战机一样,将你大部分的财富尽快且尽量低调地从一个地方运输或转移到另一个地方时,就产生了这种需要。隐形战机就是这样的,通过最隐秘的方式从一个地方快速移动到另一个地方且不为人所察觉。

我已在许多场合为Leibish & Co.公司撰写有关这一概念的文章,因此这些画面可能看起来很熟悉。

财富集中的概念早已有之。其实,历史上历代君主和其他一些知名人士都会用钻石和其它珍贵宝石来估量他们“百宝”箱中的巨额财富。这绝不是电影或卡通片中杜撰的场景!它是从古到今广为人知的事实。皇族和贵族们,国王们,公爵们,皇后们和女士们都在手头上保留有珍贵宝石,不仅仅是因为它们美丽的外观,还因为它们所具有的价值和能实现的财富集中。即使是商人和出身较差的人也会出于相同的原因在手头上留有宝石。许多情况下,他们都能用他们的宝石换得船位,换得食物,换得选民,甚至是换得性命。

在过去25到30年间,这种将财富集中到宝石上的旧风潮再次兴起,因为彩钻被证实不仅珍贵,而且还是一种罕见的珍贵石头。这些事实是彩钻在市场上具有超高价值的一个重要原因。事实上,彩钻的价值仍在不断增长,尤其是那些最珍稀最独特的钻石的价值——因为它们真的是绝无仅有、独一无二的!长期以来这个现象都被视为秘密,只在极少数人中分享而不为多数人所知,而现在,它终于变成了常识,并令这些钻石的需求量有所增加。然而,供给只在不断减少,因为钻石是一种不可再生的天然资源。

为了使该说法具象化并得到证实,我追溯历史,调查了拍卖行中彩钻的价格,

从2003年的数据开始以2年为单位向前递增。然后我决定将其与其它更为传统的珍贵商品,如黄金和钯等进行比较。最后我还将它与一个更加流行的替代性投资,即艺术品,进行了比较,后者比钻石更早开始为投资者所利用。当然,我也将它与独特的无色钻石比较了一番。为了使这些比较同等从而方便对这些截然不同的事物进行比较,我计算了每件物体每克可实现的价格。这意味着我需要确认每件物体的重量,以克为单位计算,并将其价格除以它的总克数从而得到每克的单价。钻石的克拉重量与克之间有标准的转换公式,而黄金和钯的重量的标准测量单位是条,因此唯一的挑战就是找出一幅画的尺寸(如果是雕塑,则计算其总重量然后得出其克重和每克的价格)。这些都解决后,我们就可以忠实地对这些物品进行比较了。

在佳士得和索斯比的网站上在线搜索艺术品和钻石的价格时,我能找到2003年的数据。尽管我更倾向于获得更久远的数据以更加透彻地评估这种行为趋势,然而对于撰写此文来说,有7个时间点(分别是2003年、2005年、2007年、2009年、2011年、2013年和2015年各年中的某一天)已足够我呈现一个一致的趋势。

与黄金、钯、无色钻石甚至是最昂贵的艺术品相比,粉钻和蓝钻的每克价值之高绝对是令人瞠目结舌的。

回顾2003年的秘密敛财

在回顾过去的数据以前,我知道在2003年12月11日有一枚5.00克拉的艳蓝色彩钻拍出了220万美元的价格,因此我查找了同年艺术品拍卖得到的最高价格(当年是由莫迪利亚尼的《露背的裸妇》一画创下的),和拍卖重要的无色钻石得到的最高价格(那是一颗重达63.93克拉的D色无瑕级椭圆形钻石)。我还选取了同一天黄金和钯的交易价以确保该比较的有效性。

根据图表(附注:任何人都可通过Yahoo!Finance,sothebys.com和christies.com轻易验证其真实性),我们可看到黄金和钯之间的一个有趣关系。黄金的价格是每克13.06美金,而钯则为每克26.01美金,是前者的近两倍之多。我还选择了当年当天拍卖价格最高的无色钻石——一颗重达63.93克拉的D色无瑕级钻石,其售价经换算后等同于每克329.354美金。最后我查找了当年卖出的最贵的艺术品,并根据其尺寸推算其克重,得出了每克53.775美金的一个近似价值(尽管我犯了一个严重的错误,就是少计算了20%,但它依然远远不及无色钻石的价格)。常言道,最好的总是留在最后。那么,现在让我们看看当年创下的一个记录——一颗5.00克拉重的艳蓝色钻石以一个令人震惊价格顺利成交。该价格经换算后等于每克达2024000美金。它的重量不到那颗无色钻石的十二分之一,然而它每克的价值却比后者的6倍还多,其成交价之高着实惊人。不过,对彩钻深有研究的人都知道,某些彩钻的价值绝对是非比寻常的。

2003从左至右依次是:当天每克黄金的价值和每克钯的价值,当年拍卖价格最高的无色钻石的每克最高价值和拍卖价格最高的艺术品的每克最高价值,及在这一日拍得最高价格的彩钻的每克价值。

回顾2005年的秘密敛财

短短两年后,我们可以看到黄金和钯之间的关系基本保持不变,后者价值依然是前者的两倍左右并始终如一。而无色钻石的财富集中则增加了27%,艺术品的增加了逾21%。在这一年中,售价最高的无色钻石是一颗重50.01克拉的D色潜在无瑕级(意味着如有可能,富有经验的钻石经销商会强烈考虑对其进行再次抛光,使其净度由内无瑕级升为无瑕级)祖母绿式切割钻石。拍价最高的彩钻是一颗3.10克拉重的艳紫粉色椭圆形钻石,而最贵的艺术品则是卡纳莱托的著作《Venice, the Grand Canal》。最显著的积极增长出现在了彩钻上,其财富集中值在过去两年间增长了逾45%。对此,我唯一的结论就是,在那段时间内,彩钻需求量的增长比任何其他替代性投资工具都要迅猛。

2005从左至右依次是:当天每克黄金的价值和每克钯的价值,当年拍卖价格最高的无色钻石的每克最高价值和拍卖价格最高的艺术品的每克最高价值,及在这一日拍得最高价格的彩钻的每克价值。

回顾2007年的秘密敛财

黄金和钯之间的关系除了某个微小的改变外依然基本不变,然而他们两的财富集中值增幅分别达到了近76%和56%,无论如何都可算是一个大幅增长。当年,售价最高的无色钻石是一颗重84.37克拉的D色无瑕级圆形亮钻,拍价最高的彩钻是一颗6.04克拉重的艳蓝色祖母绿式切割钻石,而最贵的艺术品则是罗斯科的《白色的中心(White Center)》。

2007从左至右依次是:当天每克黄金的价值和每克钯的价值,当年拍卖价格最高的无色钻石的每克最高价值和拍卖价格最高的艺术品的每克最高价值,及在这一日拍得最高价格的彩钻的每克价值。

有趣的是,艺术品的价值并没有出现剧烈变化,在两年间仅小幅增长了12%。无色钻石的价值同期则出现128%的特大幅增长。和无色钻石一样,该6.04克拉重的艳蓝色彩钻增幅高达124%以上,创下了新的记录。如果我们将这两个表现最突出的物品,即无色钻石和彩色钻石,与它们2003年的价格相比,会发现前者增长了191%,而后者增长了226%。

回顾2009年的秘密敛财

在这一年,除了无色钻石外,其余四种商品的价值都有所提升。黄金增值超过了60%,而钯只有小小的6%,很有可能是受通货膨胀的影响。售价最高的无色钻石是一颗重29.53克拉的D色内无瑕级圆形亮钻,拍价最高的彩钻是一颗5.00克拉重的艳粉色枕状钻石,而最贵的艺术品则是拉斐尔的《缪斯肖像(Head of Muse)》。

无色钻石的价值受到重创,减少了超过38%,虽然部分原因是因为这恰好是一颗不到30克拉重的与之前那几颗相比较小的钻石,这可能削减了人们对它的需求,尤其是在与过去售出的几颗主要的无色钻石相对比后,毕竟大小是决定无色钻石的需求量的最重要因素之一。在艺术品销售方面,我们看到了最大幅的价值增长,增幅达到难以置信的6481%。之所以有那么大幅的增长,很可能和该肖像画的大小有关,因为它的尺寸越小,财富集中度就越高。彩钻在那两年间继续领先群雄,增长了近64%。

2009从左至右依次是:当天每克黄金的价值和每克钯的价值,当年拍卖价格最高的无色钻石的每克最高价值和拍卖价格最高的艺术品的每克最高价值,及在这一日拍得最高价格的彩钻的每克价值。

回顾2011年的秘密敛财

2011年,黄金的价格持续增长,而钯的价格持续趋稳,这很有可能源于2008年来势汹汹的金融危机。在我们的研究中,黄金的价值第一次超过了钯的价值。当年售价最高的无色钻石来自伊丽莎白·泰勒(是理查德·伯顿赠予她的订婚戒指)——一颗重33.19克拉的D色无瑕级祖母绿式切割钻石。拍价最高的彩钻是一颗6.01克拉重的艳蓝色枕状钻石,而最贵的艺术品则是毕加索的《安睡少女(Jeune Fille Endorme)》。

无色钻石在过去两年间价值大幅增长,增幅达124%。而艺术品则稍显退步,这不是相对总体价格来说的,而是就一幅尺寸大了许多的画作的财富集中度而言。彩钻在自2003年起持续不断的长期增长(累积增幅达317%后,增幅也有所放缓。然而,它依然是该组之最,而无色钻石在2009年屈居第三后则重返了第二的宝座。

2011

2011年,从左至右依次是:当天每克黄金的价值和每克钯的价值,当年拍卖价格最高的无色钻石的每克最高价值和拍卖价格最高的艺术品的每克最高价值,及在这一日拍得最高价格的彩钻的每克价值。

回顾2013年的秘密敛财

在2013年,黄金稍微退步,价格回落了15%,而钯重新超过了黄金。当年售价最高的无色钻石事一颗重达118.28克拉的D色无瑕级圆形亮钻,拍价最高的彩钻是一颗59.60克拉重的艳粉色椭圆形钻石,被称为粉红之梦,而最贵的艺术品则是弗朗西斯·培根的《卢西安·弗洛伊德肖像画习作(Three Studies of Lucius Freud)》。

无色钻石的价值在自2009年起的大幅增长后略降了2%。基于艺术品的总体售价,其价值出现了创纪录的增长,然而由于其三幅一联的大型艺术品风格,其财富集中值减少至不及一半。彩钻也受到了同样影响。虽然它创下了拍卖行成交价的新纪录,但由于其体积较大,需要的金融资本较高,因此它的价值集中度也有所减少。
2013

2013年,从左至右依次是:当天每克黄金的价值和每克钯的价值,当年拍卖价格最高的无色钻石的每克最高价值和拍卖价格最高的艺术品的每克最高价值,及在这一日拍得最高价格的彩钻的每克价值。

回顾2015年的秘密敛财

2015年的两位赢家是彩色钻石(自2003年起便一直占据第一)和艺术品。黄金价值再次下降,减少了13%,而钯的降幅更是超过了27%,使其再次落后于黄金。无色钻石虽然增幅放缓,但其每克价值依然维持在100万美金以上,自2011年起便一直如此。艺术品的价值有所增长,增幅达12倍之多,这主要受到了出售的艺术品大小的影响,然而它依然创下了新的世界纪录。彩钻价值同样出现了大幅增长,每克价值重升至1000万美元以上,与2009年时的水平持平。

2015

2015年,从左至右依次是:当天每克黄金的价值和每克钯的价值,当年拍卖价格最高的无色钻石的每克最高价值和拍卖价格最高的艺术品的每克最高价值,及在这一日拍得最高价格的彩钻的每克价值。

结论

我们的研究包含了远至2003年的主要实质性资产的价值。黄金价值总体上增长199%,钯增长41%,无色钻石增长234%,艺术品因其总体增幅达1011%,可谓是一大赢家,而彩钻的总回报率则高达417%。众多成因中最值得关注的原因是:在过去大概30年间,缺乏关于彩钻的教育和理解,因为还是直到最近10年间,市场才开始理解和欣赏它们。在很长的一段时间里,彩钻投资都落后于艺术品投资,而还是直到最近几年它们才得以取得长足进步。我预计在未来的5到10年间,整体市场对彩钻的认识和教育将得到更大的发展 ,因此大量涌入的资金和投资也将流向这一市场。我很有信心,彩钻的整体市场将会出现突破性的价格增长,而投资级别的钻石的市场表现会比彩钻更加亮眼。我有预感,我们将比我们想象中的更快看到彩钻市场创下价格新高,达到前所未有的财富集中度。

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