Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s top diamond miner by volume, announced that it will start implementing the OECD due diligence guidance for responsible supply chains of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.
In a press release, the company said that to improve the efficiency of this work and guarantee compliance, it has launched an internal diamond supply chain management system. The mechanism is based on the Regulations on Responsible Diamond Supply Chain Management recently approved by its executive committee.
According to Alrosa, the internal diamond tracking and traceability system applies to all the segments of the diamond supply chain. It allows the firm to provide its clients with the information not only on the country of origin but the region of origin of its rough and polished diamond production.
The system also guarantees that rough diamonds produced by Alrosa in different regions are not mixed in the process of sorting, valuation, cutting and polishing, and trading.
“As part of Alrosa obligations as a certified RJC member, we are very proud to launch our tailored diamond supply chain due diligence system,” Peter Karakchiev, head of international relations, said in the media brief.
“It marks the start of a process which we believe will positively contribute to ensuring that all Alrosa diamonds are produced in compliance with the high standards of responsible business conduct.”
Russia’s Alrosa the world’s top diamond miner by volume, is betting on a new strategy to boost its sales amid an industry-wide slowdown that has hit small companies the hardest.
The state-owned company is now selling naturally occurring fluorescent diamonds mixed with others. At the same time, it’s holding talks with global jewellery retailers about jointly marketing its ‘Luminous Diamonds’ brand, which uses the glowing stones.
Fluorescence, a bluish glow produced by ultraviolet rays (UV), is a characteristic of 25% to 35% of diamonds, according to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
Fluorescence, a bluish glow produced by ultraviolet rays (UV), is a characteristic of 25% to 35% of diamonds, according to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
The feature has traditionally been seen as a negative attribute as it can make a diamond appear “milky” or “oily” in direct sun or UV light. Alrosa’s marketing efforts are centred on changing those perceptions.
Glowing diamonds are most common in Russia and Canada due to their proximity to the Arctic, where they are usually found.
GfK market research agency recently conducted a study involving over 4,000 jewellery consumers to determine how they perceived fluorescent diamonds.
The survey revealed that 74% of the respondents in the US didn’t know what they were or were poorly informed about them. When educated, however, over 82% of respondents said they would consider buying a diamond with such a feature. And almost 60% of customers, mostly millennials, expressed their willingness to pay as much as 15% more to obtain a fluorescent diamond.
About half of all diamonds produced globally have some fluorescence, but those in which the feature is “strong” — the focus of Alrosa’s campaign — represent as much as 5-10% of global supply.
Global demand for all types of diamonds fell between 2018 and 2019, affecting small stones producers the most, due to an oversupply in that segment that dragged prices down.
Increasing demand for synthetic diamonds also weighed on prices. Man-made stones require less investment than mined ones and can offer more attractive margins.
Big companies have not been immune to the downward trend. De Beers, the world’s No. 1 diamond miner, reported in February its worst set of earnings since Anglo American acquired it in 2012.
ALROSA has sold its 6.21-carat cushion cut fancy intense pink purple diamond to Larry West, a New York-based collector of exclusive pink diamonds.
The stone originates from Yakutia, where it was discovered and polished by ALROSA.
For over 40 years, Larry J. West, the owner of New York’s L.J. West Diamonds, has been searching for an extraordinary natural color diamonds. His collection has been featured in Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and at auctions worldwide.
“As global production declines, pink diamonds will become rarer and thus more valuable,” West said in a statement.
To establish provenance, the collector received an electronic passport from ALROSA that includes a detailed visual history of the diamond’s extraction and production, as well as information about the craftsman’s background.
As part of the company’s traceability initiative, a short film is automatically generated on ALROSA’s digital platform based on information about each diamond available for purchase.
In September, ALROSA hosted its annual auction of colored stones in Hong Kong and sold over 200 diamonds. All stones sold at the auction were accompanied by a digital passport that contained information about the diamond’s origin.
FANCY PINK DIAMONDS soared 116% in value over the past decade, outpacing blues (81%) and yellows (21%), according to a report by the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), an Israel-based group that tracks diamond pricing data in the global trading centers of Hong Kong, New York and Tel Aviv.
While the overall index for fancy-color diamonds — across all their brilliant hues — increased by 77% from 2009 to 2019, it was the pink diamond category that stood out in the report.
Market watchers believe that the strength of the pink-diamond segment is attributed to the expected closure this year of the Argyle Diamond Mine, which has been operating in Western Australia for the past 37 years.
“Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine is the first and only ongoing source of rare pink diamonds in history,” said Rio Tinto Copper & Diamonds chief executive Arnaud Soirat in 2019. “With the lifecycle of this extraordinary mine approaching its end, we have seen, and continue to see, unstoppable demand for these truly limited-edition diamonds and strong value appreciation.”
Back in April of 2017, The Pink Star, a 59.6-carat, flawless, fancy vivid pink diamond, shattered the world record for the highest price ever paid for any gem at auction. The hammer price of $71.2 million at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite sale in Hong Kong easily surpassed the $57.5 million achieved in May of 2016 by the previous record-holder, the 14.62-carat Oppenheimer Blue diamond.
In November of 2018, the 18.96-carat Pink Legacy was purchased for $50.3 million at Christie’s Geneva, establishing a record per-carat price of $2.7 million for a fancy vivid pink diamond. The previous record holder was the 14.93-carat Pink Promise, which sold at auction for $2.2 million per carat in 2017.
FCRF advisory board member Jim Pounds explained why prices for fancy-color diamonds should remain strong: “From the mining perspective, we are currently experiencing a shortage in high-quality fancy-color rough and we therefore feel quite optimistic about the future.”
A 14.83-carat pink gem found and cut by Alrosa PJSC is expected to fetch one of the highest prices ever for a diamond when the Russian company puts it up for sale later this year.
The oval stone, named The Spirit of the Rose, has been certified by the Gemological Institute of America as fancy vivid purple-pink with excellent clarity, excellent polish and very good symmetry, said Alrosa spokeswoman Evgeniya Kozenko. The sale is planned for November, she said.
The Spirit of the Rose diamond.
Colored diamonds, formed by impurities such as boron or nitrogen, are the most expensive and rarest, with pink and red stones fetching the highest prices. The Spirit of the Rose may be one of the most expensive pink stones ever, according to Eden Rachminov, the chairman of the board of the Fancy Color Research Foundation.
He estimates the potential price at between $60 million to $65 million.
Sotheby’s set the record for any gem ever sold at an auction in 2017, with its $71 million sale of the 59.6-carat Pink Star to Hong Kong-based jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group The stone was mined by De Beers, and dethroned the Oppenheimer Blue, which fetched $58 million in an earlier sale at Christie’s.
Kozenko declined to comment on how much Alrosa hopes to raise from the sale, but said that The Spirit of the Rose will be the most expensive stone ever polished in Russia. The company is still considering how to conduct the sale, with a decision expected next month, she said.
It’s a good time for a sale, as pink stones are about to get even rarer after Rio Tinto Group confirmed earlier this year that it was shutting its giant Argyle operation in Australia. The mine produces about 90% of the world’s pink gems.
Alrosa found the 27.85-carat rough stone at its alluvial mines in Russia’s Far East in 2017 and named it Nijinsky, after ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. The preparation and cutting process, which took a full year, was done at Alrosa’s cutting factory in Moscow.
The Spirit of the Rose was named for the ballet Le Spectre de la Rose, staged by the Ballets Russes company, which premiered in 1911 and in which Nijinsky was a star.
Hong Kong based M&B Diamonds expects to sell a record setting purple diamond for more than $10 million, after buying the stone from Alrosa.
The cushion modified brilliant cut, 11.06 carat diamond is the largest fancy deep purple pink stone the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has examined, according to the August 2018 grading report.
Alrosa originally debuted the gem as part of its “True Colour” collection in September at the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair. M&B bought it at tender in Moscow about two months ago, Roi Sheinfeld, owner of M&B Diamonds, told Rapaport News Wednesday.
M&B will preview the stone to customers by appointment only at its M&B Private Jewelers retail shops in Hong Kong and Singapore. While Sheinfeld chose not to reveal the stone’s purchase price, he expects the sale to yield more than $10 million, depending on the design.
“As it’s one of a kind…we will exhibit it as [a] polished loose diamond,” Sheinfeld added. “The client who buys it will have the privilege of sitting with our design team and creating a one of a kind bespoke piece.”
Do you know the Martian Pink from the Perfect Pink, the Sweet Josephine or the Pink Promise? Christie’s jewellery specialist Marie-Cécile Cisamolo tells the stories of these and other fabulous pink diamonds that have bedazzled our salerooms
Prices for top-quality, large pink diamonds have increased exponentially in recent years, driven by collector demand and increasingly limited supply. Pink diamonds gain their highly desirable colour as a result of a rare, naturally occurring slippage of the crystal lattice in the stone while it is forming deep within the Earth’s crust. Here we take a look back at some of the biggest and the best stones and pink diamond rings sold at Christie’s in recent times.
1
A Fancy Vivid Pink rectangular-cut diamond, 5.18 caratsSold for $10,709,443 in 2015
Set on a lady’s ring with a unique oval-shaped, gold-mounted diamond surround, this pink stone was the star lot of Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in May 2015 in Geneva.
A magnificent coloured diamond ring. Sold for CHF 10,021,000 on 13 May 2015 at Christie’s in Geneva
Because fewer than 10 per cent of pink diamonds weigh more than 0.2 carats, this example, at 5.18 carats, sold for almost a million dollars more than its low estimate.
2
The Vivid Pink, a Fancy Vivid Pink diamond, 5.00 caratsSold for $10,776,660 in 2009
Flanked on either side by shield-shaped diamonds, this pink stone is set on a platinum and 18k rose gold ring designed by the British jeweller Graff. When it went under the hammer in Hong Kong, ‘The Vivid Pink’ sold for more than double its low estimate and achieved the highest price ever paid per carat for a pink diamond at the time ($ 2,155,332). The record remained unbeaten until the sale of ‘The Pink Promise’ by Christie’s in 2017.
The Vivid Pink, an exquisite coloured diamond and diamond ring, by Graff. Sold for HK$83,540,000 on 1 December 2009 at Christie’s in Hong Kong
This example is certified ‘IIA’ by the Gemological Institute of America — meaning it has a particularly rare, almost homogenous colour.
3
The Grand Mazarin, a Light Pink brilliant-cut diamond, 19.07 caratsSold for $14,461,250 in 2017
This square-shaped diamond, which is a particularly light shade of pink, was given by Cardinal Mazarin to Louis XIV in 1661. It then spent 225 years as part of the French crown jewels, passing through the hands of four kings, four queens, two emperors and two empresses, before its 1887 sale when the royal treasury was dispersed and its whereabouts became unknown.
Le Grand Mazarin — an historic coloured diamond. Sold for CHF 14,375,000 on 14 November 2017 at Christie’s in Geneva
In 2017, while on a site visit to a client’s house, ‘Le Grand Mazarin’ was revealed from inside an old parcel paper to Christie’s jewellery specialist Jean-Marc Lunel. ‘Holding such an important piece of French royal history in my hands was unbelievable,’ he would later recall of the historic diamond’s rediscovery.
4
The Clark Pink, a Fancy Vivid cushion-cut purplish-pink diamond, 9.00 caratsSold for $15,762,500 in 2012
Stored in a bank vault since the 1940s, this unique purplish-pink diamond is set in a Belle Epoque ring made by Dreicer & Co. and formerly belonged to the reclusive American mining and railroad heiress, Huguette M. Clark. When it sold for almost double its upper estimate in 2012, it became the most expensive pink diamond ever seen at auction in the United States.
The Clark Pink. A Fancy Vivid, cushion-cut purplish-pink diamond, 9.00 carats. Sold for $15,762,500 on 17 April 2012 at Christie’s in New York
The ring was the top lot of a collection of 17 of Clark’s jewels that were auctioned by Christie’s, which also sold her collection of paintings by artists including Monet, Renoir and Whistler, two years later.
5
The Martian Pink, a brilliant-cut Fancy Intense Pink diamond, 12.04 caratsSold for $17,395,728 in 2012
Mounted on an 18k gold ring by the famous New York jeweller Harry ‘King of Diamonds’ Winston, this ring was nicknamed ‘The Martian Pink’ by his son Ronald, who was inspired by the 1976 launch of a US satellite to photograph the ‘red planet’ Mars, and the stone’s similar strong pink colour.
A coloured diamond ring, by Harry Winston. Sold for HK$135,060,000 on 29 May 2012 at Christie’s in Hong Kong
The Martian was certified as having virtually no nitrogen in its crystalline structure and unlike most pink diamonds, which exhibit tones of purple, orange or grey, it shows absolutely no trace of any secondary colour. As a result, it sold for more than double its low estimate when it went under the gavel in Hong Kong in 2012.
6
A Fancy Vivid Pink pear-shaped diamond, 9.14 caratsSold for $18,174,632 in 2016
Only a few mines in the world produce pink diamonds, and of those diamonds that are cut and polished only one in roughly 10 million will possess a colour pure enough to be graded ‘Fancy Vivid’.
A rare coloured diamond ring. Sold for CHF 18,127,500 on 15 November 2016 at Christie’s in Geneva
This large example, which is mounted between tapered baguette-cut diamond shoulders on a platinum ring, was certified Fancy Vivid in June 2016 by the Gemological Institute of America, helping it push past its top auction estimate and achieve more than $18 million when it sold in Geneva in the same year.
7
The Perfect Pink, a Fancy Intense rectangular pink diamond, 14.23 caratsSold for $23,165,968 in 2010
At the time of this stone’s sale in 2010, it was one of only 18 pink diamonds weighing more than 10 carats to have ever appeared at auction. And of those 18, none apart from this diamond had ever been graded Fancy Intense Pink at the time of its sale, which placed it in a league of its own.
The Perfect Pink, a superb coloured diamond and diamond ring. Sold for HK$179,860,000 on 29 November 2010 at Christie’s in Hong Kong
Flanked on either side by two clear diamonds mounted in 18k rose gold and white gold, the pink diamond sold for almost 30 per cent more than its upper estimate when it appeared in the Hong Kong saleroom, demonstrating a strong demand for coloured diamonds in Asia.
8
The Sweet Josephine, a cushion-shaped Fancy Vivid Pink diamond, 16.08 caratsSold for $28,523,925 in 2015
Mounted in a diamond twin-surround and with a diamond-set hoop, this ring set a new world-record price for any pink diamond when it sold at Christie’s in Geneva in 2015. Owned by an American family for 15 years prior to the sale, the stone was, at the time, the largest cushion-shaped pink diamond classified as Fancy Vivid Pink to ever come to auction.
The largest cushion-shaped Fancy Vivid Pink diamond at auction. Sold for CHF 28,725,000 on 10 November 2015 at Christie’s in Geneva
After the sale the diamond, which sold for around $5.5 million more than its lower estimate, was named ‘The Sweet Josephine’ by the winning bidder in honour of his seven-year-old daughter.
9
The Pink Promise, an oval-shaped Fancy Vivid Pink diamond, 14.93 caratsSold for $32,480,500 in 2017
This pink stone, with its circular-cut diamond surround featuring more pink diamonds and a platinum ring, set a new price-per-carat world record for any pink diamond when it sold in 2017 — a whopping $2,175,519.
A rare coloured diamond and diamond ring. Sold for HK$249,850,000 on 28 November 2017 at Christie’s in Hong Kong
The diamond’s initial grading was Fancy Intense before the jeweller, Stephen Silver, cut it down from 16.21 to 14.93 carats in 2013, shaving off areas of inclusions after years of detailed planning. The resulting stone was upgraded to the much rarer Fancy Vivid category, the highest possible colour mark for pink diamonds.
10
The Princie, a cushion-cut Fancy Intense Pink diamond, 34.65 caratsSold for $39,323,750 in 2013
The Princie pink diamond was discovered about 300 years ago in India, and was initially owned by the Nizams of Hyderabad. It was first auctioned in 1960, where it was purchased for £46,000 by Van Cleef & Arpels. The diamond was promptly named ‘Princie’, and the house threw a christening party for the stone in its Paris showroom.
The Princie Diamond. Sold for $39,323,750 on 16 April 2013 at Christie’s in New York
Of the seven million diamonds that have passed through the Gemological Institute of America, no more than 40 have exhibited a rare orange glow when examined under ultraviolet light, and the Princie is the largest of all of them. This fluorescent quality pinpoints the stone’s origin to the Golconda mines of India.
As it is the largest Golconda-type Fancy Intense pink diamond to ever be graded by the GIA, it’s little wonder that it sold for almost $40 million when it appeared in the sale room in New York in 2013, making it the most expensive pink diamond ever sold at Christie’s — a record it still holds.
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