Stable High Yielding Passion Investments

Our love and passion for rarity has brought us to this moment, as we are now sharing these investment opportunities with our high net worth clients. Glenn Bradford Diamond Buying Group LLC is a transaction based business that invests in rarity within the diamond and jewelry industry-what we identify as stable high yielding “passion investments”.

We seek out investments in natural fancy color, specifically pink, red, and blue diamonds purchased directly from first level diamond market makers and private clientele at dealer prices, to resell to the trade. We also invest in collectible timepieces, along with rare and signed estate jewelry that include Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, David Webb, Rolex and Patek Philippe, along with investment grade natural precious gemstones including no heat Burmese Rubies, Ceylon and Kashmir Sapphires and Colombian Emeralds.

About Glenn

With over 30 years of experience in the diamond and fine jewelry industry, multi award-winning jewelry designer Glenn Bradford is leveraging his love for rarity, his expertise and longstanding relationships in this industry to curate the ideal investment opportunities.

Investment opportunities are available to Glenn Bradford’s high net worth clientele who wish to diversify their financial portfolios into alternative investments. Investors can purchase an individual gemstone procured by the LLC, allow the LLC to safe keep the gemstone for resale to the trade and pay the LLC a fee upon its resale to the trade.

Investment with Mitigated Risk

If an investor wishes for us to safe keep and resell their gemstone it will be completely insured by Lloyds of London, completely mitigating any potential loss. The market for rarity of this nature is increasing and our global network of wholesale and retail partners allows for the global marketing of each respective investment.

A minimum target sales price is set for each diamond or other investment, only permitting the sale to occur at or above the minimum target price. Being that the market is so fluid, as we hold an investment, it will increase in value, similar to real estate investments.

Fancy Color Diamonds are a stable exponentially appreciable investment even during times of volatility

The Graph and Bar Charts below showcase both the Percentage Changes and Total Appreciation of Pink Diamonds vs. Dow Jones, S & P 200, Residential Real Estate, Gold and Colorless Diamonds, from January 2005 to December 2016. Pink Diamonds outperformed every index.

With over 30 years of experience in the diamond and fine jewelry industry, multi award-winning jewelry designer Glenn Bradford is leveraging his love for rarity, his expertise and longstanding relationships in this industry to curate the ideal investment opportunities.

Investment opportunities are available to Glenn Bradford’s high net worth clientele who wish to diversify their financial portfolios into alternative investments. Investors can purchase an individual gemstone procured by the LLC, allow the LLC to safe keep the gemstone for resale to the trade and pay the LLC a fee upon its resale to the trade.

Investors are looking at Fancy Color Diamonds beyond the emotional purchase for an engagement ring. When it comes to investments, investors and financial advisors are always seeking the most stable and lucrative assets that will yield the highest ROI. Fancy color diamonds have been recognized as a highly desirable and rare product of severely limited supply.

As a result, they have risen in price exponentially over the past 20 years and are drawing savvy investors. The highest and most rapidly increasing price value of all fancy color diamonds are red, blue and pink. These are the rarest found in nature and are considered investment grade.

When high net worth individuals, including celebrities have the means, and when they are interested in diversifying their investment portfolios, they have come to embrace these rare gemstones as excellent “passion investments”.

They enjoy the mobility and portability of this stable, high value asset as it is adorned on one’s finger, while yielding a high rate of return. All three of these colors are making headlines every year as diamonds of these colors in various sizes shatter world record prices, whether it be the price per carat for which they ultimately sell, or for their total price. 

Why Pink Diamonds are hot

Pink Diamonds are setting record-breaking prices at auction because of their beauty and extreme rarity.

Pink Diamonds are also the most understandable and desirable color of all fancy colors for consumers. We have identified $1-5 million Pink Diamonds as the sweet spot for the broadest consumer base to transact when seeking a short-term investment window.

Our first investment opportunity in a 2.66cttw. Fancy Pink Pear Shape sold within a week and yielded greater than a 900% annualized ROI.

Investment opportunities in an individual gemstone of greater than $5 million will also be considered for a more long-term investment strategy, beyond a one year time plateau. 

Pink Diamonds are extremely rare

Pink Diamonds are among the rarest diamonds and are currently quarried mostly by the Argyle Mine in Australia, owned by the world’s largest diamond mining company, Rio Tinto. It is estimated that Argyle is responsible for at least 90% of all pink diamonds released annually worldwide and is nearly depleted of these gemstones.

Out of 8 million carats of predominantly industrial use diamonds mined per year, only 40-50 carats are fine pink diamonds. The Argyle Mine is expected to cease its activities by 2020. This shutdown of the Argyle mine is expected to further increase the already high prices for pink diamonds.  

When compared to the rest of the diamonds in the market, it becomes evident how scarce Pink Diamonds are. Every year over 133 million carats of diamonds are mined, with 12-14 million carats being polished and sold, with only 0.01 percent of them being fancy colored diamonds. Out of that 0.01%, approximately 80% are brown or yellow diamonds, with the remaining 20% being gray or black diamonds. It is estimated that pink diamonds constitute a minuscule fraction of about 0.0001% of all diamonds marketed annually by Argyle, which, as mentioned above, are responsible for mining 90% of the world supply of pink diamonds.

Consistent market indexes showing a 20% average increase every year led to the influx of Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) and rich investors from China and the world, making pink diamonds a financial investment lacking any emotion or romance, but laden with realistic considerations of stability, low risk and positive return.

The following chart, whose figures were cited in the Telegraph article, provides a clear illustration of the rise in the value of pink diamonds by carats over the years. For example, in 1979, Fancy light pink diamonds, cost $10,000 per carat, and as recently as last year rose to $220,000 per carat – 22 times the value from 1979. Vivid pink diamonds, whose rare color is even more valued, were sold in 1979 for $50,000 per carat, a considerable amount by all accounts.

But high demand and low supply coupled with an unrelenting search for new investment avenues that attracted many to fancy colored diamonds have increased their value by 2014 to $600,000 per carat. In 2002, the average price per carat of a pink diamond was $13,000, and in 2014 the price was $76,000. The Fancy light pink category alone has seen a 15% annual increase in the last decade, and even banks are reporting a steep rise in investments in diamonds by their richest clients in the last 7 years. For those who want to buy pink diamonds for investment purposes, such as the SMSF funds, banks and wealthy investors, this is a ‘safe haven’ that offers all the advantages and benefits of the investment world with tiny stones that can easily be carried in your wallet or on your finger, and whose value is sometimes even greater than that of real estate properties, making them more attractive to many.

The 7 major parameters impacting the price of pink diamonds

1.  Origin and certification

All of our Investment Diamonds and Gemstones are certified by the leading Gemological Institutes led by GIA. Each Certificate is used as a road map in determining value including origin. Pink Diamonds from Australia are predominantly Type Ia with a very specific DNA. Other Pink Diamonds mined from other countries are generally Type IIa and are perceived to have an inferior DNA.

When it comes to pricing, a Pink Diamond’s origin makes a substantial difference to an investor, where Argyle Pinks are the most valuable.

2.  Color

The second parameter influencing the price of a pink diamond is its color, that is, the exact color definition as determined by the gemological institute, taking into account the diamond’s hue, saturation and tone.

HUE is the dominant color of the diamond. Sometimes there are modifying color or tints the affect hue. For example, a diamond with a pink hue may have a purplish tint.

SATURATION is the strength in the pink of the hue. Hue saturation in pink diamonds can range from light pink to intense, and at its strongest saturation, vivid.

TONE is the amount of lightness or darkness in the diamond. The range of tone extends from light to dark. The second color in a dual color grade is always the dominant color.

The “ish” refers to the modifying color. For example, Purplish Pink, Pink is the dominant color. The rarer and more valuable colors are of course the most vivid, deep and powerful ones. Fancy Intense Pink, Fancy Pink and Fancy Deep Pink will be priced much higher than their brighter counterparts – Faint Pink, Very Light Pink & Light Pink. Pure Pink Diamonds, those without a secondary hue, are considered very rare and therefore very expensive, but if they have a rare secondary hue such as violet, their price is expected to rise even more. On the other hand, if the diamond has a secondary hue of a less rare color, such as brown, its value is likely to decrease. 

3.  Carat

Although it is commonly thought that carat represents the size of the diamond, it actually refers specifically to the diamond’s weight. A 1-carat pink diamond weighs 200 milligrams, or 0.2 grams. A 5-carat pink diamond weighs only 1 gram. Heavier diamonds are considered rarer and therefore their price per carat will increase significantly.

4. Clarity

The clarity parameter, which indicates the quality of the diamond’s reflection and shine, as well as the amount of internal or external defects, has a significant but less dramatic effect on the pricing compared to the previous three parameters we discussed. Just compare a pink diamond at a clarity level of I3 to a VS1-level pink diamond and you’ll understand the difference in terms of shine, sparkle, and penetration of light in the diamond. A diamond with few or no defects, other than being of a higher quality, is considered rarer and therefore more expensive.

A general rule with Argyle Pink Diamonds is the stronger the pink saturation, the weaker the clarity grade. In non-Argyle Pink Diamonds, it is more common to find VS and VVS but the color saturations and tones are always lighter.

The effect of the cut on the diamond’s price is reflected in the quality of work done by the polisher to highlight the diamond’s rarest and most valued qualities. Is its shape symmetrical? Does it accentuate and deepen its color? Does it look bigger than its actual weight? Is the polish shiny and the diamond sparkling and dazzling? If you answered yes, it means the pink diamond you wish to buy has been treated with care by a professional polisher who raised its value by presenting its best and rarest qualities in such a positive light through a high-quality finish. If you answered no, it means that the polish will reduce the diamond’s value and make it harder to sell.

6. Shape

The shape parameter would presumably be included under the cut parameter, but unlike the cut, which refers to the work on the diamond’s interior, “shape” refers to its external and general form as seen from above and is therefore considered a separate parameter. The diamond’s chosen shape affects the way the light is reflected and accentuates the diamond’s color. Therefore, the round shape, which is widely used in white diamonds due to the high amount of light it contains, is not suitable for fancy colored diamonds because it “brightens” their color while the goal is the opposite.

The most valued shapes in the world of fancy colored diamonds in general, and pink diamonds in particular, are Oval and Pear. Another shape, romantic and desirable for both emotional and aesthetic reasons, is the shape of the heart, which is boasted in engagement rings and designer jewelry. Radiant, Asscher and Cushion are also excellent shapes that accentuate the stone’s qualities.

The most valued shapes in the world of fancy colored diamonds in general, and pink diamonds in particular, are Oval and Pear. Another shape, romantic and desirable for both emotional and aesthetic reasons, is the shape of the heart, which is boasted in engagement rings and designer jewelry. Radiant, Asscher and Cushion are also excellent shapes that accentuate the stone’s qualities.

7. The “X” Factor

It is important to understand that regardless of what GIA Color Grade a Pink Diamond is given, the “X” factor will still be one of the most important considerations when investing in a pink diamond. The “X” factor is the intangible magic of the diamond not detailed on any certificate-how beautiful the diamond looks to your naked eye, how it captures your attention and makes you fall in love with it.