Fancy Colored Diamond Collection

[MonkeyPie]

I think I am in love with this thread.

 

[Selkie]

Another green...that side of the wheel seems to be missing some variety. Do diamonds even come in a natural deeper green than the one on the left?

 

[tyty333]

Another green...that side of the wheel seems to be missing some variety. Do diamonds even come in a natural deeper green than the one on the left?

Oh, do you remember that darker green AVC? I wonder if that color would have fit in?

 

[iheartscience]

Wow kenny, they're all stunning! And your photos are always fantastic!

Okay, if I had to pick one to switch out I would lose the yellow/green radiant and replace it with something bright orange. I think that's the only thing I want to see though.

 

[zoebartlett]

 

[Tuckins1]

Kenny, I just love your collection!!!

 

[luv2sparkle]

I love all your stones! Love love love. Every single one is so unique and beautiful. I am having serious envy issues!

 

[canuk-gal]

AMAZING!

Do you have a really pure lemon yellow in there? Or a grape purple? Those are what my eye wants to see perhaps.

Truely amazing. A purple marquise. Yup.

cheers--Sharon

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

I am in love with this thread as well !!!
What pretty new additions !

My eye always seems to look for green.....
Otherwise, I think it is a perfect perfect collection

 

[platinumrock]

WOW!!!!!

What a surreal FCD collection! They're all so beautiful that I can't even pick a favorite. I honestly don't know what else to add...you have all the colors in the rainbow.

This is a once in a lifetime collection, and it definitely shows the rare beauty of nature.

Congrats!!!

 

[loriken214]

WOW!!!!!

What a surreal FCD collection! They're all so beautiful that I can't even pick a favorite. I honestly don't know what else to add...you have all the colors in the rainbow.

This is a once in a lifetime collection, and it definitely shows the rare beauty of nature.

Congrats!!!

THIS!!!!

Lori

 

[FrekeChild]

I'd add another green, a pure lemon yellow and get a brighter orange. I'm not really that big a fan of the asscher to be honest. It looks a little bit brown amongst the other yellows...

 

[jewelerman]

Just keep adding to the collection!It seems like Price scope has its own fancy diamond museum!your posts like this make my day!

 

[kenny]

Yssie, don't worry I'll take so many pics y'all will be sick of them, and thanks for the kind words.

Tyty333, thanks and yes that orangy pink heart does have a warm old-world look to it and that hot pink florescence blows my mind.

TL, yes I want a pure orange but they are quite costly for a good Intense or vivid. Also the pics I see online often look brownish to me. I am very confused and may need to see some in person.

Acebruin, yes I'm looking for a good grape-purple without too much pink.

Dreamer_D and FrekeChild - I agree that I need a fresh clean pure lemon yellow a 30-point emerald cut would be perfect. My Fancy Vivid asscher is pure yellow per GIA but I also see brown in it, and I think it even fluoresces brown. I love however that it is an asscher and a VVS1. It has really pretty scintillation and those large asscher facets really help on a small diamond.

Chamois, I'm not sure I want a black and since they are so affordable they, and browns, are rarely cut near 1/4 carat - a nice gray was recommended to me, but I really want to spend my funds on purdy colors.

MonkeyPie - thanks for the love. Shall we share a cigarette?

Selkie - yes I want more green especially a nice chameleon.

Tyty333, that green AVC was too large. I really want to keep stones under 33 points, otherwise the larger ones make the smaller ones have carrot-envy.

Thing2, yes I'd love a bright orange but I'm also very partial to my radiator fluid yellow/green, especially in sunlight with that strong green fluorescence. I'm pretty sure that one's a keeper.

Luv4sparkle, don't envy, just enjoy the fun.

Canuk-gal - purple yes, marquise? hmm I struggle with that shape but if one came along that is otherwise perfect I think I'd go for one. One nice thing about marquise is they look huge for the carat weight so a 10-point would fit right in and I LOVE what low carat weight does to the price.

Zoe, Tuckins1, luv2sparkle, loriken214 thanks girls.

Platinumrock, hey I'd kill for an FCD the color of your orange fanta.

Jeweleman, I hope I can keep adding or exchanging to improve "PS's FCD Museum" I hope I can keep this up till I croak.

Seriously guys thanks for viewing and responding.
I do this to try to share a little of that rush I feel when I look at these little miracles.
I'll keep adding new pics here ad naseum . . . and I'll bump up the referral threads on RT, Hangout and SMTB since I've already been spanked for cross posting.

Picking new FCDs is actually quite difficult now.
I have to wait for the stars to line up since I have so many nit picky requirements and supply is so limited.
Also as the collection grows it calls out for more specific things.
For cost reasons I want the minimum number of stones that will give me the maximum complete rainbow coverage.

The color must be appealing and a good fit into the existing collection.
To fit in the saturation/tone really needs to be in the Intense/Vivid range depending on the color.
I want size to be similar to the rest of the collection, with 24-point as my target weight, less for pears.
That 33-pt pear looks for of awkwardly large.
(I didn't really want an 8-point or a 10-point but their eye-popping Greenish Blue and Red colors more than make up for their diminutive size.)
I prefer good cut and VS2+.
After all this I really can't be too picky about the shape but my order of my preference is asscher, emerald, round, oval, radiant, cushion, kite, trillion, pear, marquise, heart, princess.

 

[Laila619]

is it time for a purple?

YES! A grape-y diamond!

 

[stargurl78]

I am in love with your 2 beautiful new additions, especially the pinkish/orange heart!!! What a gorgeous collection!

 

[colorluvr]

Congratulations on your new additions, and the photography is wonderful (as usual).

 

[brandy_z28]

I'd love to see a grey and a chameleon added to your collection.

 

[TristanC]

People like Kenny make me upset, because prior to seeing them online, i never knew there was a FCD shaped hole in my life... Now there is.

Sigh. What was the damage for the little red? I've loved red diamonds since I first found out about them at that celebrated auction.

But the very first fancy diamond for me shall be a special stone... looking for a good 50 pointer+ in straight fancy pink (I doubt the old budget can stretch to intense pink), ideally in brilliant cut, or oval/princess. Hope you'll help out if you see one! I know you only hunt the 35 pointers and below for now

Very nice collection Kenny. Seriously gorgeous gems

 

[Skippy123]

stunning collection

 

[kenny]

People like Kenny make me upset, because prior to seeing them online, i never knew there was a FCD shaped hole in my life... Now there is.
Sigh. What was the damage for the little red? I've loved red diamonds since I first found out about them at that celebrated auction.
But the very first fancy diamond for me shall be a special stone... looking for a good 50 pointer+ in straight fancy pink (I doubt the old budget can stretch to intense pink), ideally in brilliant cut, or oval/princess. Hope you'll help out if you see one! I know you only hunt the 35 pointers and below for now
Very nice collection Kenny. Seriously gorgeous gems

Since you asked, the red damage was $36K.
It's no secret, and any vendor with the specs could tell you anyway, so why be coy?

Your half carat Fancy Pink may be waiting for you now.
Everything I've bought is from Leibish and have been very happy with them so I'm not shy about recommending them.
They have around 1000 FCDs in their inventory, but finding yours is easy with their search tool: http://www.fancydiamonds.net/search_diamonds

New FCDs are added a few times a week so I check this NEW section daily: http://www.fancydiamonds.net/new_diamonds
They often have several that have not been added to the website yet, and high-demand ones go fast so email them and tell them what you are looking for.
I've seen some FCDs appear on the SOLD list that I never even noticed on the NEW list.
Some buyers tell Leibish they are looking for a certain size, color, shape and Leibish will offer it to her/him before listing it for the public.

BTW, may I suggest you consider a brownish pink?
Often the brown is nearly invisible (or even completely invisible to untrained eyes) but the price is much lower than pure pink.
Nobody would know the brown is there unless you wear the GIA report around your neck.

BTW, yesterday I added 2, a blue and a green.
Pics soon.

 

[acebruin]

can't wait to find out which ones you got kenny... i saw the oval green that we were talking about on the other thread... and yes i saw some yellow in it... i was comparing it to another green diamond...

 

[cokitty]

What are you planning to do with these pretties?

No plans.
One or more may make it into one or more rings some day.

That fancy violet gray pear....ohhh!

 

[TristanC]

BTW, may I suggest you consider a brownish pink?
Often the brown is nearly invisible (or even completely invisible to untrained eyes) but the price is much lower than pure pink.
Nobody would know the brown is there unless you wear the GIA report around your neck.

BTW, yesterday I added 2, a blue and a green.
Pics soon.

I would know... I keep considering that myself. But ultimately, I think I would know, and that would spoil it for me. Knowing and telling is two different things, but still. I think you know where I'm coming from

Ah my two favorite colours! Blues and greens. Hmm, my budget doesn't quite allow me to play with the world's smallest rainbow in a box, but I enjoy it whenever you share the photos of it! Please share soon. I need new gem pron.

Hmm, can I hijack your thread and ask you stuff about pink diamonds? Maybe it would be more polite to start a new thread... just that I'm not quite sure where it would go. We need to petition for a FCD subforum =D

I noticed that brilliant cuts were far more expensive than radiants for the same GIA colour range (I read from your post that there was a 1-10 scale within each colour band as well so even taking that into account the difference is huge), and that argyle pinks were premium vs other sources of pinks. Is there a rationale for this?

Also, does Leibish run regular promotions and birthday month promotions? I figure that would be a great time to make a pick!

If the hijack is inappropriate I apologise profusely and will start a new thread immediately!

 

[kenny]

I suspect the Argyle premium is just the free market and supply and demand.
Everyone knows the Argyle mine is closing in 2018 or so and there's a feeding frenzy.
Argyle has done a very very good job of marketing itself with their prestigious annual auctions of their 50 best stones, called the The Tender.

Yes I understand about wanting the pure pink.
You don't have to explain that to FCD-snob Kenny.
You want what you want.

Yes I just got a new Blue and a Green and am taking pics now.

I hear you about not knowing where to post threads about FCDs.
Rocky talk is for diamonds and Color Stones is for colored stones, but FCDS are both.
I've had this problem of where to post about FCDs for years.
Actually I met Andrey, who runs PS, in person in Vegas last Saturday, and he told me that he's considering changes at PS that will do a better job of accommodating FCDs.
Please email Andrey and/or admin to add your voice.

Another factor is Rocky Talk's culture puts huge emphasis on cutting for light return.
FCDs are cut to strengthen the color and light performance takes a back seat. (though ideally I try to shoot for both)
Also this CS forum has strong expertise on colors.

I personally don't care about thread hijacks.

Radiants are most common cut for FCDs because they keep the light bouncing around more times through the colored material before letting it bounce back out the top.
This colors the light more strongly and can result in a higher saturation grade and much more $$$$$$$$$$$.
Few emerald, asscher and rounds are cut for this reason.
Something more rare gets a price premium.
I buy emerald cuts or asschers whenever I can.
I just bought a blue EC and it's luuuuurrrrrvely.
EC has such a classy look and the facet size is the largest of all cuts; that means bigger flashes of lights from the tiny FCDs I can afford.

Sorry, I have no idea when Leibish's sales are.

 

[TristanC]

Ahhh most excellent. It is interesting though because to me, emeralds and asschers looked flatter and glassier for regular colourless diamonds. As such, I stand with the rest of the general public in desiring the more brilliant cuts before the asschers and emeralds.

For some reason I have always been drawn to rounds, but it was always from the perspective of a colourless gem because they have such an amazing fire and sparkle (solasferas are a particular favorite for me, i like the little twinklies more than the big August vintage flashes for example).

Is this totally different for FCDs? Frankly, other than yellows I have never handled FCDs, and only seen pinks in a case. Almost all the yellows were radiant cuts too. I understand that the larger facets emphasise the gems colour more though.

Personally I love the myriad shapes of your collection... I think if they were all emeralds and asschers it wouldn't be as pretty somehow. But that is subjective

For pinks, what do you think of this stone? http://www.fancydiamonds.net/view_diamonds/5183.htm

If it were round, it would be on its way to a new home... I really wish it were round...

 

[T L]

Sorry, I have no idea when Leibish's sales are.

Leibish has an ebay store, and you can make offers on their stones, which is kind of like a sale.

 

[kenny]

Ahhh most excellent. It is interesting though because to me, emeralds and asschers looked flatter and glassier for regular colourless diamonds. As such, I stand with the rest of the general public in desiring the more brilliant cuts before the asschers and emeralds.

For some reason I have always been drawn to rounds, but it was always from the perspective of a colourless gem because they have such an amazing fire and sparkle (solasferas are a particular favorite for me, i like the little twinklies more than the big August vintage flashes for example).

Is this totally different for FCDs? Frankly, other than yellows I have never handled FCDs, and only seen pinks in a case. Almost all the yellows were radiant cuts too. I understand that the larger facets emphasise the gems colour more though.

Personally I love the myriad shapes of your collection... I think if they were all emeralds and asschers it wouldn't be as pretty somehow. But that is subjective

For pinks, what do you think of this stone? http://www.fancydiamonds.net/view_diamonds/5183.htm

If it were round, it would be on its way to a new home... I really wish it were round...

Shape and color preference are 100% personal so there is no right or wrong.
Again in the FCD world the abundance of radiants, pears, cushions and the dearth of rounds emeralds and asscher is not to accommodate the public's shape preference.
It's to maximizing profits by making the cuts that help amp up the color into a more expensive grade.

People who prefer rounds are lucky in white diamonds and unlucky in FCDs.
People who prefer radiants are lucky in FCDs and unlucky in whites.

BTW, the more I learn the more I see GIA color grades as very coarse.
Within the same grade the strength of not only the color can vary a great deal, the hue itself can vary noticeably over a range.

A pink, that GIA graded as having no modifier, can have some brown, orange or purple but not enough to make it worth mentioning in the grade.
Personally I prefer a more bubble-gum pink than the one you linked to but if you like it then it is perfect for you.

You wrote, "I understand that the larger facets emphasise the gems colour more though. "
Actually I just like the clean architectural look of the shape.
Also when you DO get a bling of color rainbow flash (not body color) it is a very large block of color, which is cool to get from a tiny diamond.

TL, I didn't know Leibish sold on eBay.
I entered Leibish into the eBay search engine and it found nothing.
Can you please post a link to a listing?

 

[T L]

TL, I didn't know Leibish sold on eBay.
I entered Leibish into the eBay search engine and it found nothing.
Can you please post a link to a listing?

I have to search for it, as I don't remember their ebay store, but in their actual listings, they state they are Lebish. The store name is different though. Your store name isn't always the same as your actual vendor name. They may also have more than one store too.

ETA: Here's an example listing from their store

http://cgi.ebay.com/0-22ct-Loose-Ra...4163314?pt=Loose_Diamonds&hash=item2eb3bf6ff2

The store name is "myfancydiamonds"

Here is the actual ebay store link

http://stores.ebay.com/Fancy-Diamonds?_trksid=p4340.l2563

My strategy would be to find the diamond on their actual site, and the price (which I think is lower than the ebay BIN price), then offer 20 to 30% less than the site price in the ebay "make offer" option. That way, you can have a sale!! I can't say it will work, but since they regularly offer sales of 10 to 30% on their inventory, I think it's worth a shot. They can always counteroffer.

 

[kenny]

Thanks TL.