Rio Tinto launches ‘Colour Awakened’ historic collection from Argyle diamond mine

Rio Tinto launched on Wednesday its 2024 Beyond Rare tender, the second in its Art Series, showcasing 48 lots of extraordinarily rare stones from its diamonds business.

Rio Tinto launched on Wednesday its 2024 Beyond Rare tender, the second in its Art Series, showcasing 48 lots of extraordinarily rare stones from its diamonds business.

Titled Colour Awakened, this collection is headlined by seven “Old Masters”, notable historic diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia that operated from 1983 to 2020.

The Old Masters comprise seven round brilliant cut, pink and red diamonds, ranging in size from 0.60 carat to 2.63 carats. All unearthed from the mine over a decade ago in one case, as far back as 1987 each diamond has been carefully retrieved from private vaults and handpicked for inclusion in this year’s tender.

“No other mining company in the world has custody of such a kaleidoscope of coloured diamonds,” Sinead Kaufman, chief executive of Rio Tinto Minerals said in the statement.

In addition to the Old Masters, the Art Series 02 includes legacy inventory of pink, red and violet diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine, together with white and yellow diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Diavik diamond mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

“Four years on from the closure of the Argyle mine, our Beyond Rare Tender platform is a testimony to the enduring prestige of the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand, the quality of production from our Diavik mine, and the ongoing demand for highly collectible natural diamonds,” Kaufman said.

In total there are 76 diamonds, weighing 39.44 carats, comprising seven Old Masters, including one Fancy Red diamond; 32 single lots of pink and violet diamonds, including one Fancy Purplish Red diamond; and a rarified offering of nine carefully curated diamond sets, two of which include a 2.47 carat Fancy Intense Yellow diamond and a 4.04 carat D colour diamond, respectively, each from Diavik.

The 48 lots will be showcased in London, Australia, Singapore and Belgium, with bids closing on November 18.

Source: mining.com

Fancy colour diamond prices up 3.9% in 2022

Only one in 10,000 diamonds found are coloured, according to the Gemological Institute of America.
Only one in 10,000 diamonds found are coloured, according to the Gemological Institute of America.

Average prices for fancy coloured diamonds of any size climbed by 3.9% in 2022, led by yellows and pinks, the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), a non-profit that promotes transparency and fair trade in the market, said on Wednesday.

The industry body said prices for all yellow diamonds climbed by 4.6% from the previous year, followed by a 3.9% rise in pinks and 1.8% in blues. 

The improved prices reached by these diamonds, the FCRF said, contrast with the annual decline in white diamonds prices.

“2022 was a very good year for yellow fancy colour diamonds in all sizes and saturations. It seems like yellow diamonds with high visual grades and in certain shapes increased by more than what is reflected in the Index,” FCRF data supplier, Israel Papushado, said in a statement.

Source: FCRF.

“Pink fancy colour diamonds performed with no significant change in comparison to previous years; however, blue diamonds did not perform as expected, probably due to limitations in the Chinese market,” he noted.

The prices reported by the FCRF are based on its own Fancy Colour Diamond Index, which is built on tracked data for yellow, pink, and blue fancy colour diamonds’ performance in major global trading centres such as Hong Kong, New York, Geneva and Tel Aviv.

Nature bestows fancy colours on about one in every 10,000 rough diamonds of gem quality that are mined around the world.

The precious stones that can be blue, pink or green form a special asset class, relying on a consumer preference for exotic and unusual items. This also means they are less affected by other factors driving supply and demand in the main diamond market.

Source: Mining.com