The New York-based business holds one of the world’s largest collections of Argyle pink diamonds and has been an Authorised Partner of the mine since the 1980s.
Gant told Jeweller that the business’ expansion into the Australian market was driven by demand.
“The Australian market has shown to be very much demanding of pink diamonds – in particular, Argyle-certified pink diamonds. To service that demand from all the way over in New York is quite cumbersome and not always ideal in terms of time zones and presence of stock,” he explained.
“It made sense to set up a subsidiary office in Australia to better service the market here, primarily for the Argyle-certified pink diamonds, but also to expand further and develop the market for other colours and our jewellery as well.”
Gant added that Perth was a natural choice for the new office, as its time zone and flight connections make it ideally suited as a base for business in the Asia-Pacific market.
The Australian office, officially opened on 1 March, is LJ West Diamonds' second location outside the US; the business also has an office in Hong Kong, which largely services Mainland China.
“We have one of the biggest inventories of Argyle pink diamonds in the wholesale business and we are prepared to service that in a variety of ways,” Gant said.
“Where LJ West stands apart is that we want to support the legacy of Argyle as one of the greatest fancy colour diamond finds in the 20th Century; not just through the sale of the pink diamonds, but in making them available for people to see and enjoy through museums and other forms as well, so Argyle is not forgotten.”
He added, “There is a fantastic story to be told, and the fact that the mine has closed is just a chapter of the story that has ended. It's as if a famous artist has passed away and what remains is the artworks.”
LJ West Diamonds director Larry West approached Gant following his departure from Rio Tinto Marketing in Singapore, where he was general manager.
Gant’s early career was in Rio Tinto’s diamond operations: “I began my career in the diamond industry at Argyle, working there for about 10 years in polished diamond sales and towards the end of my time there I was responsible for global sales of pink diamonds and had quite a significant involvement in the exclusive pink diamond tenders,” he told Jeweller.
“While I stepped away from that industry, I stayed with Rio Tinto working in sales and marketing of other commodities.”
Following 15 years overseas, Gant and his family returned to Perth and he seized the opportunity to return to the fancy colour diamond market.
“It's one of the interesting things about this industry – people are in it for the long haul. It was very nice to step back in and meet a lot of familiar faces and be welcomed back,” Gant said.
“The most important element of the diamond business is trust, and I think that's where Larry and I have a very strong connection. I was the right person at the right time.”
Alongside Argyle pink diamonds, LJ West Diamonds Australia supplies blue, yellow, green, orange and red diamonds, alongside the Scott West luxury jewellery collection.
More reading:
New limited edition Argyle pink diamond coin unveiled
New collection of prestigious Argyle pink diamonds released in Australia
Argyle Tender breaks records during pandemic following pink diamond mine closure
End of an era: Argyle Mine officially closed
Read before you buy: The ultimate guide to fancy colour diamonds