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What are Argyle Pink Diamonds and why are they so Rare?

Published by MarlowsDiamonds at Apr 08, 2022
What are Argyle Pink Diamonds and why are they so Rare?

Argyle pink diamonds are one of the rarest natural diamonds you will find on Earth. Diamonds, as probably know, are slowly formed underground over millions of years as a result of such immense heat and pressure that we’re left with the hardest naturally occurring material on Earth. Naturally formed diamonds are already an extremely rare product of Mother Earth, but anyone who has ever been lucky enough to handle an Argyle pink diamond will agree that these gems will take any diamond collection to a whole new level. What is it about these gems that make them so impressive? Where do they come from and why are they so extremely rare?

The Argyle Diamond Mine is can be found in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. Despite only opening in 1985, it’s the world’s largest diamond producer by volume and was famously the first commercial mine to successfully exploit a volcanic pipe of lamproite. This isn’t the main reason the mine is famous, however – it’s also well known as the Earth’s most significant source of pink diamonds, producing 90 percent of the world’s supply, as well as a large proportion of champagne, cognac, and rare blue diamonds.

Considering how rare these pink diamonds are geographically, you begin to wonder what it is that makes them diamonds pink. We know what makes a blue diamond blue – traces of boron in soil being incorporated into the developing diamond as it forms. Yellow diamonds are similarly yellow because of their trace levels of nitrogen. However, pink diamonds contain no chemical impurities which can be identified by our leading scientists. Some experts believe that that the colour may be a result of the historic seismic activity causing the defects which refract pink light. Given that the seismic activity varies wildly from area to area, this could explain why Kimberley is the world’s only significant source of these pink diamonds.

Despite being one of the world’s most important diamond mines, due to the low yield of gem-quality stones, the Argyle Diamond Mine is expected to close by 2020. With only 5 years left to find what few stones are left, it’s easy to see why Argyle pink diamonds are so precious. Argyle have estimated that “for every million carats of rough pink diamonds produced from the mine, only one polished carat is offered for sale by annual tender.” To put that in perspective, for every 200kg of rough pink diamond that Argyle finds, only 0.2g of it hits the market.

Argyle have also estimated that there are less than 500 tender quality diamonds yet to be unearthed in their mines, meaning that with each passing day these extremely limited edition stones are becoming rarer still. It’s for this reason that even very small Argyle pink diamonds start at £10,000 and go as high as the millions. The most expensive pink diamond per carat was sold at Sothebyin Hong Kong in October 2014, when an 8.41carat gem went for £11 million –that’s more than £1.3m a carat, and as recently as the 11th November 2015, Christie’s sold the world’s largest Argyle vivid pink diamond for £19m…… Find our more here...

It seems the demand for pink diamonds is insatiable among investors and connoisseurs….

Here at Marlow’s Diamonds, we have recently come into possession of one of these extremely rare collector’s pieces, just in time for Christmas 2015. If you’re interested in purchasing this stunning gem or engagement ring, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.

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