The tender incorporates the “best” stones from a year’s production at the company’s Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia.
In the mine’s 30-year history, there have only been six other diamonds certified as fancy red presented for sale. This is the first time three have been offered at the one time.
Consequently the stones are said to represent the “pinnacle of value and ultimate rarity in the diamond industry”.
“To have three of these rare red diamonds in one tender is a very special moment in time,” Argyle Pink Diamonds manager Josephine Johnson said.
This year’s tender will showcase 64 diamonds – including 58 pink diamonds, three fancy red diamonds and three blue diamonds – and is reportedly notable for its unique combination of colours and sizes.
The “hero” of the collection is a 1.56-carat round gem that has been named Argyle Phoenix in honour of the newly-commissioned Argyle underground mine.
“The intrinsic beauty and unrivalled colour intensity of this red diamond is symbolic of its East Kimberley birthplace and the treasures that lie within the depths of the new underground mine,” Johnson said.
As previously reported by Jeweller, Rio Tinto announced that it would open a new underground mine, extending the life of Argyle diamonds until at least 2020. At the time of the announcement, local diamond ateliers contacted by Jeweller said the news had generated renewed interest in pink diamonds as clients began to realise that production of the rare resource would eventually end.
Other standout pieces in the tender include Argyle Imperial, a 3.02-carat fancy intense orangey pink diamond (a diamond greater than three carats has not been included in eight years), and Argyle Celestial, which is a 0.71-carat blue heart-shaped diamond, expected to be sold with a matching heart-shaped fancy pink diamond from the collection.
Tender viewings will be held in Perth and Hong Kong with previews in Sydney, New York and Tokyo. Bids close on 8 October 2013.
The Argyle Diamond Mine produces more than 90 per cent of the world's pink diamonds, which are sold globally in a broad range of colours and sizes.
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