Marconi does worse than Mickey Mouse

Spectator, The, Oct 12, 2002 by Weyer, Martin Vander

Others still believe that diamonds are for ever: rare precious stones are certainly the world's most valuable objects by weight. In search of the ultimate alternative investment I visited J.D. Boles of the British Gemmological Institute in London, who pointed out that coloured diamonds - they come in pink, blue and green, but there are only about ten red ones in the world, worth up to L2.5 million a carat, and only one, literally priceless, pure purple one (see picture) - have been rising in value in a steep curve for the past 20 years, untainted by financial markets' downturns.

If you can't stretch to multi-million-- pound single stones, he suggests, buy diamonds set in well-certificated pre-war jewellery pieces by houses such as Cartier or Mauboussin, whose names underpin the intrinsic value of the gems. Or simply arm yourself with a magnifying lens and a little knowledge and go to Portobello Road to look for orange-pink padparadscha (Sinhalese for `lotus flower') sapphires, which can sometimes be found for under L100 but will sell for many times more.

`One day you'll find one,' he says, `and it's a most exciting thing when you do.' With more Marconis to come in an extended bear market, it is the sort of excitement we are all going to need.