Diamonds: Investors' best friends?

The precious gems have long been treasured by collectors and brides to be. But with help from new funds, investors are increasingly turning to these stones as well.

By Aimee Picchi, MSN Money

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and704
Mar 14, 2013 12:00AM
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Why invest in Diamonds? Simple, to lose all the money you have. Russians have found a trillions of carats in diamonds. I dont even know why diamonds are so expensive when it is not even a rare stone. Diamond market is an artificial market there is no way in hell its a good investment.
picturegirl
Mar 14, 2013 10:40AM
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So my $7000 engagement ring that only got $1400 at re-sale was a good investment?  I probably won't ever buy diamonds again.
Foothills
Mar 14, 2013 11:00AM
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The markup on diamonds is so high that the average person has no chance of making any money buying a diamond as an investment and reselling it at a later date. Additionally, DeBeers is an International Cartel, which stabilizes and controls the price of diamonds worldwide. They've been successful at doing so for many years, but without them, the price of diamonds would seek it's own level, one that would be considerably less than it is now.

It's true, the Russians have discovered diamond pipes in their country and have produced a large number of stones, but they work with DeBeers, since it's in their best interest to maximize the value of the stones they have mined.

The best way to invest would be to invest in DeBeers, but you can't, since it's privately held. Any other investment in diamonds, ETF's, diamond funds, individual stones, IMO, is too risky.

Hawaiian cutie
Mar 14, 2013 3:45PM
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The diamond industry is a joke.  We had an engagement ring at a cost of $22K, when the engagement was called off the ring was pawned.  Yep, the ring was taken to pawn shops and jewelers willing to buy it and the highest bid was $3K.  Great investment, right????  Don't buy anything, keep your money in the bank and invest in CD's, you will never lose your hard working money.   All the people who invested big cash in the purchase a diamond should take it to another jeweler and getting appraised.  No whining or crying!!!  Just take a look at E-bay, Craiglist, etc. and you will see tons of people trying to dump their diamonds at a fraction of what they paid for it.
Ben Johnson
Mar 19, 2013 12:38PM
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This is about the third big "buy" dianmonds article that MSN NBC has put up front in the past week or so.  Either the diamond cartels are getting ready to bump the prices again or they want the secondary market cleared out to inflate prices and new diamond sales.  Or, NBC got orders from the government which would want people to buy diamonds and stick them in a lock box and out of the economy because of all the inflation that is coming from their endless printing of money and manipulating the interest rates.  But that would be stupid to think people who watch NBC would have enough cashola to matter.
donnado62
Mar 19, 2013 1:00PM
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what a croc of ****. I have been buying and receiving diamonds for years. I'm 68 now. Try selling them. Even Good antique glass has dropped in price. The only thing I have seen go up is Gold and now it is on it's way down.

Oil is certainly up.

Believe me our inflated market is a sham. I lost $93,000.00 in 2000 and they say it has come back. NOT only some came back. My advise get out now. Who gets all that lost money. The Government allows you to recover $3000.00 per year for 5 years. You don't recover.

B. N. (BrianTheKnow)
Mar 19, 2013 4:24PM
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The ONLY good thing in the obama economy is the stock market, and that is artificial, just a bubble that will soon burst.

And the people who elected him will NEVER cry about the crap economy as long as one of "theirs" is in the top office.  Ladies and gentlemen, I thought that "1984" could only happen in a totalitarian regime!  These people have WILLINGLY sold themselves into being proles!
 
So sad...

DAN BYRNE (DOWNTOWNDAN1)
Mar 14, 2013 10:28AM
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the smartest man i ever met said that guns and diamonds were the only stable thing and if you had
the guns you could have the diamonds...........t​rue story
BrandonKat
Mar 19, 2013 4:39PM
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My 8,000 diamond engagement  ring purchased in 1999 was recently appraised at 1200.  Good thing it wasn't purchased as an investment!  Even the appraiser said the stone was very clean and the setting was incredible, but still 1200?  I would hate to find out how little my gorgeous diamond wedding ring is worth now :(
c j (Catrine36)
Mar 19, 2013 2:49PM
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Give me a ruby over a diamond anytime.  Worth more, more rare and stunning!
America First (azfirst)
Mar 19, 2013 3:07PM
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Diamonds are not a good investment unless you can buy them really cheap.  I had a dealer friend who taught me about diamonds and I haven't touched on since.  and704 is dead on in his assessment.  If you want to lose all your money, buy diamonds.
Joe Ski
May 6, 2013 8:14AM
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Diamonds are the worst investment anyone could possible make.
If you want to purchase a diamond I would suggest you'd be better off with a synthetic diamond called a "MOISSANITE". It can be purchased at a FRACTION of the cost of a real diamond. It is as hard as a diamond and the brilliance is just like the most perfect diamond dug out of any mine, they are flawless.
Up until a few years ago there was no way to tell the difference between a real diamond and a "MOISSANITE". Now there is a device that can tell the difference. However. an examination by the best experts in the diamond industry CANNOT tell them apart without this device.

I once had a $10,000.00 PERFECT/FLAWLESS 1.05 caret diamond. I took it to several jewelry stores and pawn shops. The MOST I was offered was $1,500.00. 

The publishers of the above article should be ashamed of themselves for tying to con the public into investing in diamonds. Sounds like just another scam to separate us from our hard earned money.  
ANYONE INTERESTED IN INVESTING IN A HEDGE FUND OR TWO?
Somethingsummat
May 6, 2013 3:20AM
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Diamonds are a worse investment than an automobile bought at a dealer premium off of a brand new car lot for 19% interest. 

Uptownandy
Mar 19, 2013 4:51PM
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Yes diamonds are a controlled value for people who control them.. Everything is controlled for the rich to get richer.. It's all a trap to get the working mans savings and they do a pretty good job of it .. Anyone with money can buy a diamond and it's now billions of people so it must be lots of rare stones' right.. Rare my A$$...Oh by the way Ark diamond mine my father took us there on vacation over 50 years ago it was seeded them and it's seeded now.. They should be put in jail even to suggest there are still diamonds there ..
Wayne Prentice
Mar 13, 2013 9:56PM
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Today, diamond wholesalers, retailers, and "Prosumers"/Investor​s can obtain online the education required and use tools like the DiamondMaster App to monitor diamonds global values in 11 foreign currencies, and their values in exchange to gold's annual moving average (appstore.com/diamon​dmaster). An ETF when approved will provide another option, but most I believe will want physical possession ...especially during troubled economic times. All "Luxury Investments," art, collectable cars, jewelry, certificated diamonds and colored gems are best enjoyed and not kept in a vault like gold bars that typically need to be refined periodically for renewed hallmarks.

OLD AS THEY ARE
May 6, 2013 11:53AM
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Diamonds aren't worth the box they come in. If the Russians dump their stash on the market, prices drop and  you will be able to burn the box for heat in your fireplace.
Riley Jr.
May 6, 2013 11:16AM
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All you have to do is look at who is controlling the distribution of the diamonds. If they can't sell them to the idiots of the world they sell them to be ground up and used as sandpaper.
South Lyon Jewelers (s.l.jeweler)
May 6, 2013 7:30AM
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Gem stones and diamonds are no investment, less then 1% are of any value at all, and only to collectors, like "Beanie Babies". I tell all my customer's this yet they insist on the best quality. Diamonds under 10points I charge $10.00. I'm selling colored stones sapphire and ruby in 10ct parcels for $10.00

I can't give this stuff away, since the industry started buying gold we all have 100's of carets.

 

Somethingsummat
May 6, 2013 3:13AM
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Diamonds are kept artificially high by several companies with monopolies on them. Truth is diamonds are not rare, they are only valuable because people are stupid enough to pay what those companies charge for them. Good for you I say, spend two months salary on something that lasts forever and cost 30 cents in labor to procure. 
Elaine Byers
Mar 19, 2013 7:11PM
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Don't rely on appraisals either.......an AIG appraisal I received on a necklace wasn't worth

the paper it was written on. The appraisal was about 90 % off in favor of the auction house.

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