The art market may be retrenching at the very top causing sales volumes to contract markedly. But the large colored diamond market continues to act like a safe-haven asset, defying price trends in the rest of gem and jewelry market.

Last night’s record sale at Sotheby’s in Geneva underscores the process. The seller of the top lot, a large pink diamond that sold for $31.5m, comments on the trend:

“We’re slowly seeing a market for diamonds going beyond jewelry and becoming an asset,” Ehud Laniado said in a phone interview. “I think that tendency will move to the big white stones as well.”

If buyers still see colored stones as a store of value, how should we interpret the drop in art transactions? Lack of supply? Guarantee exhaustion? A shift to other tangible assets?

Sotheby’s Sets World Record With $175 Million Jewelry Auction (Bloomberg)