Singer, who forecasts gains of 10 to 15 per cent this year, predicted in December that the precious stones were on track to achieve a 20 per cent hike over the course of 2011.

No one will be surprised to hear that diamonds outstripped falling financial markets, but more remarkable is that they beat gold, one of last year’s major talking points. The yellow metal has traditionally been seen as a hedge against turmoil, but after a long period of impressive growth until September, it is now trading at roughly $300/oz below that peak.

“Diamonds are now the most concentrated form of wealth on earth,” Ansar Ali, chief executive of Elite Gems, a London-based investment group, previously told this publication. “Hailed as the next gold, diamonds have become hot property and have performed year-on-year better than practically any other investment.”

However, diamonds are not immune to global turmoil; they went up 30 per cent in the first seven months of last year but eased subsequently when uncertainty came to dominate the second half of 2011.

“The major risk to rising diamond prices is further macro-economic turbulence in traditional diamond consuming markets such as the US, however the strong demand from emerging diamond markets such as China is set to offset this risk,” Singer said.

“At the very upper end of the diamond market, demand remains very strong supporting the record price levels being fetched on the international auction market for special and magnificent diamonds,” he said.

In a very special case, the jewelry collection that belonged to Elizabeth Taylor who died last year broke all records when sold at Christie’s in New York in December. One of the highlights was an $8.8 million bid for a 33.19 carat ring given to her by the film legend Richard Burton.