Diamond and coloured gemstone market continues to witness growth 

In the gemstone market, diamonds hold 80% of the overall share. The FMI reports show promising growth for rubies in the coming years, where the demand for customized gemstones and jewellery continues to grow, creating a high potential growth opportunity in the sector. 

The new gemstone designers use modern technologies like rapid prototyping and computer-aided designs to create customized gemstone designs. 

There has been a growth in demand for luxury assets, primarily for high-quality natural gems from consumers in Asia, which includes China, India, and Japan.  

The Gem Diamonds Limited Company's shares were up 3.23 per cent due to the new high-quality discoveries. The rough stone sellers earned $169.2m in the last half-year, where it discovered 910 carats of Lesotho Legend diamond, including at least ten stones of over 100 carats and 25 that went for a price higher than $1 m each. 

Buyers seek Stones extracted from the Earth's Crust. 

The price of man-manmade natural diamonds continues to widen as buyers seek natural stones with positive growth in value over time, having attractive resale values; on the contrary, the resale value of lab-grown is about zero. 

De Beers recently changed the pricing strategy of the lab-grown, where it previously sold 1-carat synthetic for $4,200 and the mined stones for $6,000. 

In the last few months, the company reduced the price of artificial 800 a carat to create a clear distinction between the two types. 

It claims the changes have been made to reinstall the ones extracted from the earth's crust, created through natural processes that are special for individual events like engagement, 

but the synthetic ones found in several colours – pink, white, blue – as fashion accessories can be created in labs and are not precious, not rare and not real. 

According to the company, the price change strategy has been helpful as the high-tech diamonds prepared in the lab can be created from an investment of less than $300 a carat, although the cost was very high a decade ago. 

The technology used in creating has developed in the last few years. These are chemically similar to the ones extracted from the earth's crust but can be produced in a short duration in labs and cost less by over 40 per cent compared to the natural ones. 

Diamond as an Investment

Diamonds as a collectable is a safe investment, although it is unsuitable for short-term purposes and does not offer daily liquidity, like shares. Hence, the investors should keep the investment timeframe to at least three to five years to gain. 

They should know the difference between jewellery and diamonds, where the gemstones can be held in smaller storage units. Still, jewellery and other collectables like artwork may require proper storage and insurance policies. 

Some government rules do not allow diamonds to be held as jewellery or transported anywhere, while most investors hold them in bank vaults or for personal safety. Sensible diversification, where the right value of the stone has been estimated before investment, can deliver positive growth in the future.