Seeking advice for my first Fancy Pink Diamond Purchase

[StarWarsChick]

Hi there! I'm brand new to the forum but have been doing a lot of lurking and reading. I'm looking to invest in my very first Fancy Pink Diamond. I recently purchased a Fancy Yellow ring (have wanted a yellow diamond for over 7 years) and finally bought one from my local jeweler. It got me wanting more...and looking online...which I should have done to start with. I did not know that fancy diamonds could be an investment and that appeals to me as I love wearing beautiful sparkly things and knowing that I'm not losing money but possibly making some over the long term, that appeals to me greatly and makes such a big purchase more justifiable.

Ok, so I have been looking at several places- Leibish, James Allen, Blue Nile, Diamonds by Lauren, along with several Aussie Jewelers. My budget for the stone is about $10000 (there may be a little wiggle room) and then I want to do a custom setting. I want at least a Fancy Intense although I would love a fancy vivid but I think that is going to wind me up with either a very very small stone or go way over my budget. I have a question. Now I have found some Fancy Vivid stones that are not Argyle diamonds. Would those be a smarter investment because they are Fancy Vivid than a Fancy Intense that IS an Argyle stone?

Here are a couple of stones I've picked out that I really love the color and cut of. I am hoping you can help move me in the wisest direction.

Stone #1
.17 CT Fancy Intense Purpulish Pink Radiant Cut Both GIA and Argyle Certificate and has laser inscription. Clarity VVS2 Measurements 2.72x3.27x2 Medium Blue Fluorescence Very good Polish and Very Good symmetry. Argyle color 5P Price $10,300

Stone #2
.17 CT Fancy Vivid Pink Radiant Cut GIA ONlY Measurements 3.22x3.88x1.75 Clarity VVS1 Faint Fluorescence Good Polish and Good symmetry Price $11,650

Stone #3
.17 CT Fancy Vivid Purplish Pink Radiant Cut GIA ONLY Measurements 2.95x3.75x1.86 Clarity SI1 Faint Fluorescence Very Good Polish and Good Symmetry Price $18800

Stone #4
.17ct Fancy Intense Purplish Pink Asscher Cut GIA and Argyle Certificate Clarity VS2 Measurements 3.26 x 3.12 x 1.89 Faint Fluorescence Good Polish Good Symmetry Argyle Color 4PP Price $9995

I thank you all so much for helping me try and make the smartest choice here!

 

[T L]

I like the top stone the best, because the two vivids look very dark to me, or is that camera shadow??

Pink diamonds from Argyle are more money than their counterparts from other locations. I believe this is because they are guaranteed to be ethically sourced.

I love orangy pinks too.

 

[LoversKites]

Ok, so I have been looking at several places- Leibish, James Allen, Blue Nile, Diamonds by Lauren, along with several Aussie Jewelers. My budget for the stone is about $10000 (there may be a little wiggle room) and then I want to do a custom setting. I want at least a Fancy Intense although I would love a fancy vivid but I think that is going to wind me up with either a very very small stone or go way over my budget. I have a question. Now I have found some Fancy Vivid stones that are not Argyle diamonds. Would those be a smarter investment because they are Fancy Vivid than a Fancy Intense that IS an Argyle stone?

Diamonds in general are not going to be a good investment especially at those sizes. That said, I understand wanting to buy something that will retain maximum value. Unfortunately I don't know the answer to your very interesting question.

Could you push to 12k? This PSer has had this diamond up for a while -- he originally listed it for 16k. Beautiful cut. Great price for the ct weight.
http://loupetroop.com/listings/loose-stones-diamond/0-dot-34ct-fancy-intense-pink-oval-cut-diamond-gia-certified

ETA: I'm not a huge fan of any of the ones you posted. I mean, they're pretty but I think you can do better. First one is my favorite.

 

[Marlow]

All 0,17 ct?? Funny!

So same weight and price range ( 1,2 and 4) - I prefer def. No. 4

If you love them and wanna collect them - fine.

But they are no investment - you will never get what you paid if you sell them.

 

[LoversKites]

I like the top stone the best, because the two vivids look very dark to me, or is that camera shadow??

Pink diamonds from Argyle are more money than their counterparts from other locations. I believe this is because they are guaranteed to be ethically sourced.

I love orangy pinks too.

Yeah especially the third one is quite dark. I love the darker colour on that one though. Not sure I'd pay the price.

Orangy pinks are gorgeous

 

[LoversKites]

ETA: I'm not a huge fan of any of the ones you posted. I mean, they're pretty but I think you can do better. First one is my favorite.

The reason I say this is because there is a lot of variation within the same colour grade in colour intensity and slight modifiers.

For example, these were graded fancy intense pink by GIA and to my eye have noticeably better colour than the options you posted. These are in the sold section of Leibish.

Maybe with the Argyle mine drying up quality available is going down and it's simply hard to find stones like these. Now, I do not know how much these sold for, but when there is something like this for comparison I find it hard to recommend one of the stones you posted, even though they're still attractive.

http://www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/015ct-fancy-intense-pink-emerald-si1-10706-6705
http://www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/015ct-fancy-intense-pink-emerald-si1-19165-6069

 

[StarWarsChick]

All 0,17 ct?? Funny!

So same weight and price range ( 1,2 and 4) - I prefer def. No. 4

If you love them and wanna collect them - fine.

But they are no investment - you will never get what you paid if you sell them.

May I ask why I would not and may I also ask what would be recommended as an investment?

 

[StarWarsChick]

ETA: I'm not a huge fan of any of the ones you posted. I mean, they're pretty but I think you can do better. First one is my favorite.

The reason I say this is because there is a lot of variation within the same colour grade in colour intensity and slight modifiers.

For example, these were graded fancy intense pink by GIA and to my eye have noticeably better colour than the options you posted. These are in the sold section of Leibish.

Maybe with the Argyle mine drying up quality available is going down and it's simply hard to find stones like these. Now, I do not know how much these sold for, but when there is something like this for comparison I find it hard to recommend one of the stones you posted, even though they're still attractive.

http://www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/015ct-fancy-intense-pink-emerald-si1-10706-6705
http://www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/015ct-fancy-intense-pink-emerald-si1-19165-6069

Oh wow, those are absolutely stunning color!

 

[LoversKites]

To somewhat answer your investment question, from what I know, diamonds are hard to liquidate through the secondary market. Just look at the Loupetroop seller I linked above. He definitely paid more than 12k for that stone.

I think that typically, large fcds with a high colour grade and preferably a high clarity grade are seen as investment grade. Of course, 'large' translates differently depending on the colour grade... And who you're planning on selling to.

 

[Marlow]

All 0,17 ct?? Funny!

So same weight and price range ( 1,2 and 4) - I prefer def. No. 4

If you love them and wanna collect them - fine.

But they are no investment - you will never get what you paid if you sell them.

May I ask why I would not and may I also ask what would be recommended as an investment?

O.K. - quite simple - the vendors sells a diamond for 10K - so he bought it for 2-4K - if you sell why should any vendor give you 10-12K ?????

They will offer you 500 or 1000 $ course the stone is to small, a terrible cut and the color is bad and nobody will buy them and blablabla...

If it is an investment ask Leibish for a written guarantee that he buys back the stone for 105 % after two years and 120 % after five - hey, it is an investment !!!! Should be NO PROBLEM!!!!

You will never get this.

I collect gems - have no money for investment left!

 

[LoversKites]

All 0,17 ct?? Funny!

So same weight and price range ( 1,2 and 4) - I prefer def. No. 4

If you love them and wanna collect them - fine.

But they are no investment - you will never get what you paid if you sell them.

May I ask why I would not and may I also ask what would be recommended as an investment?

O.K. - quite simple - the vendors sells a diamond for 10K - so he bought it for 2-4K - if you sell why should any vendor give you 10-12K ?????

They will offer you 500 or 1000 $ course the stone is to small, a terrible cut and the color is bad and nobody will buy them and blablabla...

If it is an investment ask Leibish for a written guarantee that he buys back the stone for 105 % after two years and 120 % after five - hey, it is an investment !!!! Should be NO PROBLEM!!!!

You will never get this.

I collect gems - have no money for investment left!

Lol... Love the way you put this.

 

[StarWarsChick]

I'm really appreciating all of the feedback! Well, I've done some more looking. What do you think of this stone:
www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/041ct-fancy-intense-orangy-pink-pear-si1-117061-18166

 

[T L]

I'm really appreciating all of the feedback! Well, I've done some more looking. What do you think of this stone:
www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/041ct-fancy-intense-orangy-pink-pear-si1-117061-18166

This is probably my favorite pink in your budget on Liebisch. It reminds me of an orchid color.

http://www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/017ct-fancy-intense-purple-pink-round-si2-138647-19625

 

[StarWarsChick]

That is a very pretty purple!

 

[Marlow]

I have bought two pink untreated diamonds in 1987.
A 0,14 ct and 0,06 ct - I paid 1000 DM pct - would be around 1500 EUR pct.
So 210 EUR and 90 EUR....

Def. not the quality of the posted Leibish stones but is a price pct around 60K o.k.?



incandescent light...

 

[T L]

I think larger fcd's that are at least 1 carat, are more of an investment, and only in extremely rare colors, like fancy vivid blue (no grey secondary), or fancy vivid pink, fancy vivid orange (no yellow secondary). There is one stone that I know Leibish regretted selling and wanted to buy back, but the owner refrained. It was a pure fancy violet, which is probably the rarest among all colors (without grey secondary). I think that was a small stone too.

 

[Marlow]

I think larger fcd's that are at least 1 carat, are more of an investment, and only in extremely rare colors, like fancy vivid blue (no grey secondary), or fancy vivid pink, fancy vivid orange (no yellow secondary). There is one stone that I know Leibish regretted selling and wanted to buy back, but the owner refrained. It was a pure fancy violet, which is probably the rarest among all colors (without grey secondary). I think that was a small stone too.

One-of-a-kind items or extremely fine ( color,color,clarity and cut) like Kennys FCD - I agree!!

But not the plastic bags with 20-40 stones ( pink or "blue") like the pics of the Langermann diamonds.

 

[LoversKites]

I think larger fcd's that are at least 1 carat, are more of an investment, and only in extremely rare colors, like fancy vivid blue (no grey secondary), or fancy vivid pink, fancy vivid orange (no yellow secondary). There is one stone that I know Leibish regretted selling and wanted to buy back, but the owner refrained. It was a pure fancy violet, which is probably the rarest among all colors (without grey secondary). I think that was a small stone too.

One-of-a-kind items or extremely fine ( color,color,clarity and cut) like Kennys FCD - I agree!!

But not the plastic bags with 20-40 stones ( pink or "blue") like the pics of the Langermann diamonds.

I remember those plastic bags far from investment quality.

 

[Marlow]

The price for 0,01-0,15 ct stone ( color: raspberry) is from 31300-50000 Dollar per carat.....

Far away from cheap!!!

 

[movie zombie]

Marlow, thank you for saying what needed to be said re investment.............

getting a fancy pink diamond because desires a fancy pink diamond is one thing....as an investment [as with any color stone and/or diamond] just isn't in the cards unless one is looking at the likes of the Hope Diamond, etc.....and I hate to assume too much but I don't think many pricescopers are in that league.

 

[StarWarsChick]

Marlow, thank you for saying what needed to be said re investment.............

getting a fancy pink diamond because desires a fancy pink diamond is one thing....as an investment [as with any color stone and/or diamond] just isn't in the cards unless one is looking at the likes of the Hope Diamond, etc.....and I hate to assume too much but I don't think many pricescopers are in that league.

Gotcha, I appreciate that very much. I do very much want a pink diamond and liked the idea of it also being a possible investment but I realize that isn't going to be the case. So in that case, help me to decide which will be a better overall purchase for my first pink diamond ring:

http://www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/017ct-fancy-intense-purplish-pink-radiant-vvs2-138810-19631
I think this is my favorite in color, but it is the smallest.



http://www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/028ct-fancy-intense-purplish-pink-radiant-si2-132202-19169.... A bit larger, not my favorite, of the three in color but still an Argyle but is also the most expensive of the three.



www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/041ct-fancy-intense-orangy-pink-pear-si1-117061-18166.... Nice bigger size and being a pear will look larger, second favorite in color, not an Argyle but hoping for that reason they can work more on the price.

 

[T L]

I think you get the most bang for your buck with the purplish pink round I picked. Leibish even said it was really strong saturation, and it's going to face up nice, and its a great price. JMO. Rounds are also beautiful and face up nice for their carat weight. Radiants face up small for their carat weight.

 

[Marlow]

And this one....

http://www.leibish.com/purple-diamond/031ct-fancy-intense-pink-purple-cushion-i1-150006-20669

 

[T L]

And this one....

http://www.leibish.com/purple-diamond/031ct-fancy-intense-pink-purple-cushion-i1-150006-20669

Wow, that's big for the price, just because it's an I-1. Inclusions aren't nearly as noticeable in colored diamonds as in white ones. I really love that.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

And this one....

http://www.leibish.com/purple-diamond/031ct-fancy-intense-pink-purple-cushion-i1-150006-20669

I LOVE this one, I always prefer the purple over the pure pink.

 

[Marlow]

Same opinion - a little purple orchid....

 

[StarWarsChick]

I have to say I'm more of a pink than purple girl. Those are both pretty but not really what I'm looking for color wise.

 

[movie zombie]

re:

www.leibish.com/pink-diamond/041ct-fancy-intense-orangy-pink-pear-si1-117061-18166...... Nice bigger size and being a pear will look larger, second favorite in color, not an Argyle but hoping for that reason they can work more on the price.

I like this one but I think IRL it will be darker......


and that purple that Marlowe posted? be still my beating heart! love at first sight!

 

[Marlow]

And who will buy it???

I don't have 10K!!!!

 

[movie zombie]

you and me both, Marlow, you and me both....sigh.