Nature provides many forms of colorful beauty. Gorgeous reds and oranges of setting suns. Shifting yellow sands of the desert. Verdant greens of vast forest. Fathomless blues of deep ocean. Purples of mountains imperially rising high. The black of night. Millions of people enjoy the Earth's presentation of mysterious and majestic colorful scenes.
However, only a few can own nature's small majesties, its ancient gems and precious stones. A colored diamond can capture the full brilliance of any of the above colors within a single carat or less. This euphoric power to inspire feeling makes colored diamonds some of the most coveted objects of all time.
Proud owners deserve to praise any of the precious gemstones in their collection, for they are beautiful and expensive. Some are in possession of extraordinarily rare treasures, indeed.
However, few objects on this Earth obtain the scarcity of a natural colored diamond. For every colored diamond, there are 10,000 colorless or "white" diamonds. For every colored diamond over a carat, there are 1,000,000 colorless or "white" diamonds. Nature has created but a few of these tiny colorful treasures, and commercial reality has made them even harder to obtain. In any given year, some of the scarcest colors are only available for purchase once or twice worldwide.
Each and every colored diamond has no rival. There will not be another stone that matches all its features---color, cut, size, shape, hue, lightness, and saturation. Owners know that they possess a natural treasure that has not been replicated anywhere, ever. They alone possess something of singular beauty, something as distinct, identifiable, and as impossible to replicate as their life and the people they love.
The brilliant color of these stones, sparkling in thousands of magnificently tinted projections, allures collectors from all over the world. The feelings of awe can be described scientifically by precise measurements, or through the vocabulary that has evolved to cover the breadth of colored diamonds.
The standardizing of analysis and the increased market breadth marks this industry's coming of age.
The collecting and communication of colored diamonds experienced a massive transformation with the 1998 publishing of Stephen C. Hofer's paramount work "Collecting and Classifying Coloured Diamonds". This treatise revolutionized the classification and description of colored diamonds. For the first time, a gemologist and a premier color scientist collaborated to apply modern principles of color analysis on colored diamonds. Mr. Hofer spent hundreds of hours analyzing colored diamonds with a Rennilson-Hale Gemstone Colorimeter.
For years, describing and grading colored diamonds was solely an art based on visual analysis. With the publication and acceptance of Mr. Hofer's work, formerly ambiguous color descriptions became standardized by the immutable laws of science.
One always could find the largest colored diamonds selling at exclusive auction houses. However, recently, a new group of collectors has grown, that eschews the traditional means of attainment. They seek discrete acquisition through confidential and personal relationships with consultants. These collectors have broadened the base of annual transactions and injected liquidity to the marketplace.
The transparency and accessibility of colored diamond pricing information has increased worldwide. This, along with Stephen C. Hofer's scientifically grounded treatise "Collecting and Classifying Coloured Diamonds", has piqued the interest of connoisseurs of all things exquisite.
From a small group of collectors, word of colored diamonds striking beauty, trending appreciation and increased liquidity led to a 1000% growth in demand over the last decade. However, the laws of nature have only created small amounts of these captivating gemstones. The growing demand is met solely by the same finite supply that existed before the recent popularity developed.
Colored Diamond Collectors commitment to integrity prohibits us from making grand statements assuring colored diamonds' value will appreciate. However, in the last few years, a time that saw turbulent stocks, collapsing economies in Asia and Russia, and a stateless war on terror, the value of colored gemstones has risen steadily. The price increase is based on economics, emotion, and ultimately rarity.
From a pure market standpoint, the rising demand has not been matched with rising supply; this scenario assures colored diamonds' appreciating values. Colored diamonds have increased in value compared to colorless diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and other precious stones.
The other driver is the mystique of colored diamonds' gleaming brilliance combined with nature's expansive color palette. Word has spread beyond elite collectors that diamonds occur in radiant burgundies, indigos, periwinkles, and marigolds. This has led to more connoisseurs wanting to enter the market to acquire such beauty and unique color expression for themselves.
The colored diamond collector is an all together different type of connoisseur. The scarcity of these gemstones, in a decade of rising demand, translates into collections that are meticulously built, one prized acquisition at a time. By encapsulating all of nature's unlimited beauty and color in a few carats or less, this purchase is not about conspicuous consumption.
Collectors understand that they alone own something which has no match. Many years ago, each colored diamond was created with its exact color, size, shape, hue, lightness, and saturation. They alone behold its ancient enchantment.
Collectors are also educated. They know the technological language and standardized color grading terms enabling them to participate fully within the colored diamond culture.
Perhaps, most of all, they value the relationships they build with their consultants. The elite maintain the strictest integrity and discreteness while vigilantly following the marketplace and apprising opportunities. The colored diamond consultant forges a relationship that lasts decades by bringing true value to the collection, suggesting unique and rare stones and unusual colors that are often overlooked or underappreciated by the marketplace. A rewarding relationship is behind the world's foremost colored diamond collections.
This confidential personal relationship is the basis of our worldwide reputation. This is our founding philosophy.
Each and every colored diamond has no rival. There will not be another stone that matches all its features---color, cut, size, shape, hue, lightness, and saturation. Owners know that they possess a natural treasure that has not been replicated anywhere, ever. They alone possess something of singular beauty, something as distinct, identifiable, and as impossible to replicate as their life and the people they love.
One always could find the largest colored diamonds selling at exclusive auction houses. However, recently, a new group of collectors has grown, that eschews the traditional means of attainment. They seek discrete acquisition through confidential and personal relationships with consultants. These collectors have broadened the base of annual transactions and injected liquidity to the marketplace.
The colored diamond collector is an all together different type of connoisseur. The scarcity of these gemstones, in a decade of rising demand, translates into collections that are meticulously built, one prized acquisition at a time. By encapsulating all of nature's unlimited beauty and color in a few carats or less, this purchase is not about conspicuous consumption.
