Faint yellow diamonds (N-R)

[Alexmalex]

I am wondering if anyone knows a good source, other than diamonds by Lauren, to find diamonds in the color range between n-r or even through v. It's that faint yellow color that is before "fancy color" diamonds and could be a treat compromise on price and color. I've had a really hard time finding sources so if anyone can help id appreciate it!

 

[kenny]

Rarely, but sometimes I see them at www.goodoldgold.com or www.fancydiamonds.net

 

[misskittycat]

Try Adam at Old World Diamonds. He might have some interesting inventory that is not on his website.

http://www.oldworlddiamonds.com

 

[Alexmalex]

Thanks kenny and mskittycat!

 

[daintyG]

Idjewelryonline.com, exceldiamonds.com, and Solomon brothers

 

[kelpie]

USA Certed and Solomon Brothers seem to carry them.

 

[UrsTx]

Both carry more of the OEC/antique cushion variety but you'll find a few MBs on these two: Love Affair Diamonds and Jewels By Grace (together they were JbEG). Lots in the lower color range. Good prices. Not all have lab papers though.

 

[WinkHPD]

I am wondering if anyone knows a good source, other than diamonds by Lauren, to find diamonds in the color range between n-r or even through v. It's that faint yellow color that is before "fancy color" diamonds and could be a treat compromise on price and color. I've had a really hard time finding sources so if anyone can help id appreciate it!

You do not mention the size or shape that you are looking for.

One thing to consider is that these diamonds are VERY inexpensive and that having one custom cut for you is often an option if you are not in a hurry. Ironically, the rough is not overly plentiful, so you may have to be a bit flexible in the size and it is tough to judge the exact color that the finished piece will be once cut, but the price will be set prior to the cutting of the diamond. It can add a lot of fun and excitement to your search.

Wink

 

[Rockdiamond]

I beg to differ with my esteemed colleague and friend Wink on a few specific points.
"Inexpensive" is a relative term - but if we compare the increases in faint yellow diamonds as compared to colorless, I would bet the percentage is higher. More to the point – the stones used to be downright cheap. Nowadays they cost a lot more relative to everything else that people buy.
Just taking hypothetical example. Five years ago a two carat WX may have cost as much as a person's rent for one month. Today, that might be 2 to 3 months.
The stones are gained in popularity exponentially, causing drastic increases in price.
This goes to the second point – I don't know cutters who are willing to try and find such a piece of rough to custom cut a stone. The rough must be bought in bulk – and it's quite a lot more difficult then it was just a few years ago.
We do buy them every day, and I can tell you it's gotten a lot more difficult– And expensive

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Good Old Gold usually has quite a few M's and lower in August Vintage Cushions:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamondResults.php?shape=2&ctMin=0.4&ctMax=10.00&optSym=66&inHouse=1&resultsColumns=402669647

 

[Rockdiamond]

That kind of proves the point DS. I know from experience that when Yoram custome cuts stones in this color range for us, they come out costing a lot more than "normal" cut stones.
I would argue that they are worth the difference – but custom cut stones are no longer inexpensive in this color range.

 

[DorotheaBrooke]

I'm no expert, but I recently bought an O-colored August Vintage Cushion from Good Old Gold. There was not a huge selection, but all I needed was one. In my color preference, size, and price-range, they had an O, an S, and a light fancy for me to consider, and they were great to work with, providing comparison photos and video. I also contacted Perry with Leon Mege and he had one stone that fit my criteria, an N-colored cushion. Other places I checked out online were Old World Diamonds, Love Affair Diamonds, and Jewels by Grace - all found through PS.

Good luck in your search!

 

[GeorgeStevens]

David (or anyone else): why do you think it is that such diamonds have gone up in price so much? I had long assumed that most diamonds of certain color grades are turned into abrasives rather than jewelry, but marketing to consumers sometimes results in consumers buying such diamonds - e.g. if they want to buy more carats for the same budget and trade down on color?

 

[Rockdiamond]

That's a great question George.
With regards to industrial quality diamonds – if a Diamond has good transparency and clarity it has traditionally been polished. That's why there's so many older stones in the lower color ranges.
Back in the 90s, when I was working for a site holder before I opened my own company, we carried a tremendous amount of "cape" round diamonds. That would be in the color grades lower then M – but not fancy colors.
Such diamonds sold at a fraction of the price for colorless goods.

Over the past 20 years I have noticed great increases in cutting technology when it to comes to the lower colors of the alphabet stones.
I'm not talking about stones such as the ones that Yoram cuts – rather stones that are cut for both weight retention, as well as great brilliance and color projection.
These factors have combined to create a somewhat new market.
Internationally, I see a shifting demographics. Markets in the Far East, for many years. were only buying the darker stones.
Over the past few years they have started to snatch up quite a few of the lower alphabets stones in Hong Kong and markets in that region.

Since I opened Diamonds by Lauren, we have always been dedicated to representing the diamonds exactly is GIA grades them. I never had anything against an S-T Color.
Given the fact that we've always carried them, and our website has been very active since 1999, I'd like to think that we may have played a small part of this – although now we suffer the consequences in the higher prices…

 

[GeorgeStevens]

Interesting, and apologies to OP for the thread hijack. It sounds like what you describe is a combination of better technology (rising supply) more than offset by rising consumer demand, resulting in higher prices. If demand for M-T has historically come from the Far East, and if China and India are driving most of the increase in diamond consumption observed since the mid-2000s, then these consumers would be driving demand in such color range. And of course as these consumers grow wealthier they increasingly purchase D-J colors too and perhaps become less concerned about weight relative to other factors.

With regard to older cuts, I had assumed the reason we often see antique cuts (OEC, rose cut, etc.) in the K-R range is that the stones of D-J colors were more likely to have been recut after the modern RBC was perfected, and hence the antique cuts that are left today tend to be those farther from colorless, i.e. those where the payoff from recutting is least. (As the owner of an antique cut, I'm not making any judgment about their intrinsic worth or desirability.)

 

[WinkHPD]

I beg to differ with my esteemed colleague and friend Wink on a few specific points.
"Inexpensive" is a relative term - but if we compare the increases in faint yellow diamonds as compared to colorless, I would bet the percentage is higher. More to the point – the stones used to be downright cheap. Nowadays they cost a lot more relative to everything else that people buy.
Just taking hypothetical example. Five years ago a two carat WX may have cost as much as a person's rent for one month. Today, that might be 2 to 3 months.
The stones are gained in popularity exponentially, causing drastic increases in price.
This goes to the second point – I don't know cutters who are willing to try and find such a piece of rough to custom cut a stone. The rough must be bought in bulk – and it's quite a lot more difficult then it was just a few years ago.
We do buy them every day, and I can tell you it's gotten a lot more difficult– And expensive

I grant you that they are more expensive than they were, but so is everything else. Paul just custom cut a delightful 1.20 Crafted by Infinity that he thought would grade a Q but it came back as an O. The diamond was less than $5,000 net to our client. And yes, Paul did have to pay more to buy just the single diamond, but it was available.

Wink

 

[Rockdiamond]

Wink- my point was that the rise in prices of lower alphabet stones has been at a faster rate than other diamonds - as well as many other consumer items.
I was not aware that Paul would take on single stone orders from rough- which is very cool- but highly unusual. That's why I would not suggest it to consumers as a rule.
We both agree CBI diamonds are something unique and worth premium prices- but this also proves the point about price disadvantage of custom cutting.
A 1.20 O-P cushion - or even RBC would be a lot less than $4k- maybe less than $3k.

George- my point was not that the lower color stones traditionally sold in the Far East - rather that was a new demand