Jeweller - June 2021

Natural Selection | COLOUR DIAMONDS FEATURE
SPOTLIGHT ON
GREEN DIAMONDS
L to R: Creations Jewellers; Jewellery Theatre; Picchiotti
“Fancy colour diamonds currently account for less than 0.1 per
cent of Alrosa’s total output, so only time will tell if their intention
of becoming the world’s greatest supplier of fancy colour stones
will actually be achieved, or continue to be an aspirational goal.”
He adds, “Colour diamonds found in Russia are usually pinkish
purple, yellowish gray, brown and olive. They tend to have an
octahedral crystalline structure and a large cleavage.
“The pink stones sometimes have two distinct colours – one
part of the stone is brown, and the other is pink, which allows
skilled cutters to divide the stone obtaining two diamonds,
each with its own colour.”
Says West, “Alrosa has a range of colours. Their pinks
have, on average, more purple tones, giving them a lilac
appearance. They also have a range of other colours including
purples and strong yellows.
“The best of their fancy colours are true specimen diamonds.
With Argyle closing, we see collectors looking to Alrosa and South
African mines to find the next rare colour diamond.”
In addition to dramatically reducing the supply of pink diamonds
and, to a lesser extent, high-quality browns, Argyle’s closure has
also left something of a ‘marketing vacuum’.
Without the compelling narrative of the mine itself, nor the
glamour of the annual Tender, the jewellery industry must explore
other avenues for promoting fancy colours.
The NCDIA’s Bronstein has called for greater investment into
marketing and education about fancy diamonds of all colours in
the wake of Argyle’s closure.
“The market cannot be the same – and will not be the same –
without the halo effect from the marketing of the pink diamonds,
from Argyle directly. That was very important. Individual
companies can create some publicity for their own products, but
it won’t have the same impact.”
In July 2020, the NCDIA appointed four new international
‘ambassadors’ – bringing its total to six – in order to increase the
promotional reach and education about fancy-colour diamonds
across global markets, including Hong Kong, Singapore,
Switzerland, and Italy.
Marco Pocaterra, NCDIA’s Italian ‘ambassador’, noted at the time,
“From my experience, Italy remains fertile for education and sales
of fancy natural colour diamonds... Their beauty and desirability
are strongly underexposed to the public.
“The consequence is that Italian jewellers do not create
revenues with these extraordinary and incomparable gems. I am
committed to help them inspire their customers and take the
opportunity to have new attractive sales conversations.”
44 | June 2021
Maulin Shah
World Shiner
“In general and
depending on the
colour, fancy colours
offer higher margins
and higher profit
than white diamonds,
which provides
jewellers with an extra
avenue for income.”
Chris Soklich
Ellendale Diamonds
“Each coloured diamond
is so unique – this lends
itself to endless options
of personalisation of
created jewellery pieces...
Creativity is boundless
and it can be used to
capture the customer’s
own unique qualities.”
Scott West
LJ West Diamonds
“The best of [Alrosa’s]
fancy colours are true
specimen diamonds.
With Argyle closing,
we see collectors
looking to Alrosa and
South African mines
to find the next rare
colour diamond.”
Kunming’s Maheshwari also emphasises the need for jewellers
to take an active role: “Jewellers need to educate, promote,
and make consumers aware that they are well-versed in this
category,” he says.
He suggests hosting in-store events and focusing on educating
customers about the wide variety of colours available, as well as
the unique attributes of each one.
Soklich says education is key for both jewellers and retail staff to
create “confidence when designing jewellery pieces, which in turn
leads to successful sales”.
The appeal of fancy colour diamonds
largely lies in their ability to captivate
the individual; beyond a trend, they are
designed to be treasured – and it is up to
jewellers to complement their natural
beauty by setting them within equally
breath-taking jewellery.
Musson says, “Many fancy-coloured diamonds are so rare and
valuable, that more significant care must be taken when working
with them. Some may have attributes that may make them more
susceptible to damage, such as inclusions.
“Or, a variation in cutting has led to a thin girdle or fine corner to
maximise carat weight. These nuances may jeopardise durability
and present challenges when setting them.”
Ellendale Diamonds stones and jewellery are marketed not only
based on beauty and quality, but on guaranteed Australian origin:
“The provenance of coloured diamonds is at the core of our ethos,
and we proudly promote that our diamonds are sourced from the
Argyle and Ellendale Mines,” Soklich explains.
This provides another marketing avenue for jewellers – although
provenance cannot always be guaranteed.
Polnauer predicts virtual custom design, based on the customer’s
specific “vision” for the piece – a trend that rose to prominence
during the pandemic – will continue to feature as a key part of
jewellers’ sales strategies.
Indeed, the appeal of fancy colour diamonds largely lies in
their ability to captivate the individual; beyond a trend, they
are designed to be treasured – and it is up to jewellers to
complement their natural beauty by setting them within
equally breath-taking jewellery.
Earlier this year, the Gemological Institute of
America (GIA) recalled an unspecified number of
green diamonds it had graded between January
and June 2020. The recall related to a potential
new colour treatment of green stones.
Alan Bronstein, president of the Natural
Color Diamond Association, said, “It is already
challenging to assess green diamonds because
both natural and treated green stones achieve
their colour the same way – through radiation
– as opposed to, say, pink diamonds.”
Natural pink diamonds achieve their colour
through geological phenomena which cannot be
replicated, whereas manufacturers can imbue labcreated
or natural white diamonds with pink colour
through irradiation and/or annealing, making
differentiation very simple.
Kunming
Bronstein added, “The challenge of 100 per
cent differentiation [of green diamonds]
remains elusive.”
Several diamonds owned by Leibish were
recalled. Director Leibish Polnauer told
Jeweller, “Our gemmologist, Shmulik
Polnauer, was consulted by [GIA
Australian leading wholesaler, specialising in manufacturing
9ct 9ct and and 18ct 18ct yellow gold, gold, rose rose gold gold and and white white gold. gold.
Machine made made and and hand hand made, any any kind, kind, chains and and bracelets,
bangles and and findings. Suppliers to to retailers and and wholesalers.
technical advisor] Thomas Gelb on this matter. We
have a small number of stones that the GIA rechecked,
but all returned as having natural colour.”
Leibish believes that the recall will have a positive
effect, explaining, “It will disable the few players who
are making questionable manipulations on green
diamonds. Luckily, at Leibish, we did not conduct
business with such vendors as we sell only natural
colours without gimmicks and manipulations.”
Arthur Langerman, founder of Langerman Diamonds,
lamented the “unethical people in the industry…
attempting to forge fancy natural colour diamonds”,
predicting the process of certifying green diamonds
will become “stricter and more challenging.”
He added, “While it is possible that this recall leads to
a bit of distrust and scepticism from new customers,
those who are searching for green natural colour
diamonds will just have to be extra attentive about
which companies to trust.
“Integrity, knowledge and long-term experience
working with natural color diamonds allows
companies, such as Langerman Diamonds, to
guarantee clients the origin, authenticity and the
quality of the green natural colour diamonds.”
From top:
De Beers;
Kunming;
Leibish;
Kunming;
De Beers
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