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Diamond Color-Price Relationship

kelpie

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 8, 2008
Messages
2,362
I found this online and thought you might think it's interesting too.

The following statistics provide an indication of the relationship between color grade and price:

D costs 50% more per carat than E
E is 12% more than F
F is 16% more than G
G is 22.5% more than H
H is 18% more than I
I is 22.5% more than J
J is 9% more than K
K is 10% more than L
L is 20% more than M
 
Very interesting...where did you find this information? Seems pretty accurate.
 
Don't the numbers shift with carat weight too?

IOW, if those percentages apply when all the stones are 1 ct, different percentages may apply for 3 ct.

I'm curious about this.
Here is a hypothetical example:
If a 1 ct D is 50% more than a 1 ct E, then a 3 ct D may be, say, 60% more than a 3 ct E. - something like that.
 
Yeah, it assumes all other factors are equal. I bet you would see a difference set of proportions in huge carat sizes.
 
D costs 50% more per carat than E
E is 12% more than F
F is 16% more than G
G is 22.5% more than H
H is 18% more than I
I is 22.5% more than J
J is 9% more than K
K is 10% more than L
L is 20% more than M

This list makes some color grades seem to be better value than others, and they are NOT in order.
For instance the best value is J followed by K then E . . . etc.
G and I are poor values.
The worst value is D especially considering what a good value E is.

I wonder why the percentages are not more linear.
Perhaps it relates to the non linear supply of what nature gives us.
 
It is an odd spread except for the jump to D, Of course. I wonder how much is a factor of supply vs a factor of demand. I can see why the drop at K as it has never been mass marketed like D-I and even J has only recently become more accepted (granted with most of the junk that was sold it was probably in actuality a much lower color). However E does seem like a good value, and I've noticed that in shopping online too.
 
These numbers also vary with clarity as well as both size and shape. At 1 carat round, for example, the E-D 'premium' is on the order of 38% at IF and it drops to about 4% at SI2.


Largely this stuf is driven by buyers, not sellers. I've never seen credible production data by color but just in watching the marketplace, the 'low' colors are actually fairly rare. Just try and find a M-P were all other things are equal to that H you're considering and you'll see what I mean.

People pay a big premium for D colors becasue that's seen as the 'best'. That's especially true with the D/IF grade, and that's the reason the preimum is so high. Few people who are willing to pay to ring the bell on color are willing to accept an I-1 clarity and, consequently, D/I-1 isn't a very good seller. The prices reflect this. The same thing happens with L/IF and similarly unusual combinations. The rarity is there, but the demand is not.
 
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