INVESTING IN DIAMONDS
Diamonds can be a great alternative investment. Not only are you investing in something that’s likely to go up in value over time but you can enjoy wearing them too. In fact, recently diamonds have quietly been rising in price faster than most traditional investments.
How much have diamonds gone up in price?
Quite a lot. In fact…- From 1999 to 2011 three-carat diamonds increased 144.9% while five-carat diamonds increased 171.1%
- One to five-carat diamonds provided a compound annual return of 11.6% during the last five years
- In the 12 months to December 2009, one to five-carat diamond prices declined on average just 2.81%
- A decade-long diamond investment outpaced returns in the yen, euro and Nasdaq or Dow Jones indices.
London diamond dealer Vashi Dominguez of Vashi.com says: “There are several reasons why diamonds make a good investment. For a start, they are more likely to increase in value even in times of deflation. While many
segments of the marketplace may start to lose money, diamonds will
typically retain their value and continue to increase. In particular
large diamonds provide consistent returns and have proven resilient in a
recession.”He says that the last ten years have seen more demand for diamonds than ever and that the next decade is likely to be the most positive in history for diamond prices.
The pros and cons of investing in diamonds
On the plus side:- Diamonds have been popular in jewellery for centuries and are likely to continue to be in demand.
- There are a finite number of diamonds in the world and supply won’t match demand, at least in the next few years.
- The demand for diamonds is likely to increase in India and China in particular, as they get richer and buy more
- Unlike property, diamonds don’t need continual maintenance nor do you need to pay tax when you buy them
- If you buy actual diamonds you can wear your investment and enjoy them while you have them
- They’re small and easily portable so you don’t have to pay for large storage
- Diamonds are small and easily stolen. They need to be watched when you wear them and safely stored, possibly in a bank safe, when you’re not wearing them.
- They also need to be insured which can be an extra cost (though not huge).
- It’s far too easy to produce synthetic diamonds. If you don’t know
the difference, and particularly if you don’t buy them from a reputable
dealer, you could end up with stones that are much less valuable than
when you bought them. - It’s hard to know if diamonds come from bad mines or not, however if you buy from the right dealers it’s possible to know which mines have produced them.
- Diamond mining can be a brutal trade so, if you invest in actual mines, you need to know that they don’t produce ‘blood diamonds’ (diamonds mined in a war zone, often in terrible conditions, and sold to finance wars).
Jasmine says...
Shirley Bassey sang that diamonds are forever,
and Marilyn Monroe’s song was that diamonds are “a girl’s best
friend”. When it comes to providing for your retirement, they certainly
could be one of your best friends whether you’re a girl or a boy.
They’re worth considering as part of your retirement pot!
Three ways to invest in diamonds
You can buy and sell actual diamonds (wearing them while you have them or just storing them) or you can invest in diamond mines.Here are the main ways:
- Buying diamonds and turning them into jewellery
- Buying diamonds and storing them in a vault
- Investing in diamond-mining companies and funds
1.Buying diamonds as jewellery
This is the probably the most fun way to invest in diamonds! Imagine – you’re wearing something you love and it’s going up in value. If you’re not wedded to them, you can wear them for a few years and then sell them and buy better ones… and so on, rather like trading up with property.
Celebrities
and wealthy socialites all wear diamonds as a symbol of status and
wealth. Diamond jewellers often provide diamond-studded jewellery to
celebrities when they attend popular events such as the Oscars.
According to Vashi Dominguez, it’s best to spend at least £5,000 on good diamonds to wear and to keep them for around five years. However, he says that diamonds bought from him can be sold and replaced with others whenever the diamonds you hold look like they’ll be surpassed by more popular ones. If you buy from him he’ll let you know when other diamonds are on the market which could rise in price quicker than your current ones. That way you can trade in diamonds you currently own for better investments at any time.
It goes without saying that you should buy diamonds, and settings, that you love so that you really enjoy wearing them (or your partner does) either as earrings, bracelets, rings or necklaces.
Diamonds do, of course, need to be kept safely when you’re not wearing them. Some people store them in a safe at home and others in a bank safe, although that’s harder to use and will cost you a monthly fee. You should also make sure that they’re mentioned on your home insurance.
2. Buying diamonds to store and then sell
Diamond trading is an unregulated market and the price of cut diamonds is still tightly controlled by De Beers, the most famous diamond company in the world, which invites buyers for the jewellery trade to make sealed bids for parcels of gemstones.However, you can buy diamonds and have them stored with a diamond dealer like Vashi.com. Theyll help you buy the right ones and then store them for you in their vaults until you want to sell them and buy different ones. They can also advise you on which ones to buy and when.
Where to get genuine diamonds and what to look out for
It’s far too easy to get the wrong diamonds, so any amateur investor should go to a reputable diamond merchant to buy proper ones. They’re the ones that can tell genuine diamonds from the synthetic ones.
“You need to go to a reputable diamond dealer in order to have a written guarantee that the diamonds have come from an ethical source,” says Dominguez. Normal jewellers don’t generally know where their diamonds have come from, so you need to be sure that you have a genuine, quality diamond that hasn’t been mined by a company that’ll use the money to fund wars and terrorism. To do this, go to a proper dealer in London or one of the main cities in the UK.
Dominguez also suggests that you buy at least three or four-carat diamonds as they’re going up in price by around 3% a month.
Trends in diamonds vary so if you buy a type or cut that’s popular now, in two or three years you could find that another shape is more fashionable, and therefore going up in price, so you can sell your current ones and buy new through your dealer.
The majority of diamonds – over 80% in fact – are cut in the ’round brilliant’ shape. This tends to be the most popular for jewellery. Some are also cut in the ‘Marquise’ shape. The ‘Princess’ shape is also popular.
3. Investing in diamond-mining companies
Investing
in individual companies is always risky so you really need to do a lot
of research, not only into the companies themselves but also in the
sector generally. So before you put any money into any of these
companies, make sure you know the history of them, how they’ve performed
generally, how the mining sector – and particularly the diamond-mining
sector – has performed and what the possibilities are for the future.There are a few companies you could consider that are involved in diamond mining:
- Anglo American own about 85% of De Beers which is one of the biggest diamond companies in the world.
- Petra Diamonds is quoted on the London Stock Exchange and has interests in diamond mining.
- Gem Diamonds is another one quoted on the LSE.
Resource : http://nipun-frendshipspot.blogspot.com/
