The ‘Argyle Alpha’ diamond is the largest gemstone for sale in the 34-year history of the Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, and will be previewed in Sydney before travelling to Hong Kong then New York, with bids closing in October.
Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques said he was “delighted” to showcase the diamond, along with 62 other rare pink, red and violet diamonds, totalling 51.48 carats, this year.
"Rio Tinto's Argyle mine is the world's only source of these highly coveted pink, red and violet diamonds, and we expect considerable interest in this year’s collection. The combination of strong demand and extremely limited world supply continues to support significant value appreciation for Argyle pink diamonds," he said.
Mondial Pink Diamond Atelier owner, Michael Neuman, took one client through a preview of the tender and said it was the “most extraordinary” collection he had witnessed in his 20 plus years of tender viewings.
“The immediate reaction to the preview was, ‘wow, these stones are so big’,” he said.
“There were two record-breaking diamonds, which was pretty amazing. I can’t remember the last time I saw a 2-carat round argyle stone in the tender, but this year showcased both that, and the two record-breakers.” Neuman said the closure of Argyle Mine, set for 2021, would intensify the bidding process.
“There will be heavy bidding for all of the stones because this will probably be the second or third-last opportunity for people to buy a tender stone. Certainly, because of the extraordinary characteristics of some of the diamonds there, it will be serious bidding,” he said.
Argyle Pink Diamonds manager Josephine Johnson told ABC News that only a handful of collectors from around the globe would have an opportunity to bid on the tender, and this year’s sale is anticipated to be “fiercely competitive” as the finite nature of pink diamonds becomes more apparent to bidders.
"There's growing awareness now that they're just not rare but they're very finite — I can feel already this is going to be a very competitive year. With the mine closing by 2021 we've only got two or three tenders to go,” she said.
The Argyle Alpha will be joined by other record-breaking gemstones, including the Argyle Muse. At over 2 carats, the Muse is the largest purplish-red diamond offered at the tender.
"These stones are less than one-tenth of 1 per cent of the mine's production; they are extraordinarily rare,” she said.
"It's really remarkable that this mine, virtually the sole world source of pink diamonds, keeps giving us these super-special gems."
Argyle Mine has a good start to the year with Rio Tinto experiencing 7 per cent increase in diamond production year on year in the second quarter of 2018, driven by the mine’s increase in output.
According to a company statement, production came to 4.6 million carats for the three months ending 30 June, with Argyle yielding 3.5 million carats at an increase of 8 per cent over the same period last year.
More reading
True Colours: The 2018 coloured diamond report
Colour investigation: diamond
Gain a selling edge with coloured diamonds
Aussie miners find new pink diamonds source