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.”
Pink fancy-color diamonds outperformed other major color categories in price terms during the first quarter, the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF) said.
“At a time of diamond-market uncertainty, fueled by growing white-diamond inventory and the emergence of lab-grown diamonds, most categories of fancy-color diamonds are showing continued pricing stability, with the pink segment posting slight price increases,” said Oren Schneider, an FCRF advisory board member.
Prices for pinks grew 0.5% quarter on quarter for the three months ending March 31, according to the FCRF, which released its quarterly Fancy Color Diamond Index (FCDI) last week. By contrast, overall prices of blue fancy-color diamonds, which previously held the top spot, declined 0.2% compared to the previous quarter. Yellows slipped 1.5%, causing the overall index for fancy-color diamonds to fall 0.2%.
“The color-diamond market as a whole is in a slowdown, following the hyper price rises of the past years,” added Alan Bronstein, president of the Natural Color Diamond Association. “Demand always goes through cycles where values rise and fall.”
Diamonds weighing 1 carat showed the best performance in both the fancy-yellow and fancy-intense-blue categories during the quarter, according to the FCRF. The segment was led by the 3- and 5-carat vivid-pink categories, which increased by an average of 3.1%.
In February, the FCRF predicted a rise in the price of yellow diamonds for 2019, as Dominion Diamond Mines’ Ekati deposit — one of the main suppliers of those stones — transitions from open-pit to underground mining. The group cautioned there would be a shortage of supply during the transition phase.
The Fancy Color Diamond Index tracks prices of yellow, pink and blue fancy-color diamonds in Hong Kong, New York and Tel Aviv.
London jeweller Graff has acquired what founder Laurence Graff, a man known by his moniker The King of Diamonds, has described as “the most vivid pink rough diamond I have ever seen”.
The incredibly rare 13.33ct pink diamond was unearthed at the Letšeng mine in Lesotho, Africa, by miner Gem Diamonds in February. The Letšeng mine is famed for its high yield of very valuable and large rough diamonds.
While the diamonds to emerge from Letšeng consistently achieve the highest price per carat of any rough diamonds in the world, Graff has set a new record with the acquisition of the 13.33ct pink diamond. The stone, which has since been named the Graff Lesotho Pink, was purchased by Graff for US$8.75 million, making it the most expensive diamond on a dollar per carat basis to ever have emerged from the mine.
“This is the most vivid pink rough diamond I have ever seen, and it is an exceptionally rare treasure,” said Mr Graff. “We are renowned for cutting and polishing exceptional diamonds, and I am sure the polished diamond that comes from this rough will be an auspicious addition to our roll call of famous gems. It is an enormous privilege to own this natural miracle. We may never see anything like it again.”
The Graff Lesotho Pink diamond is now in the hands of Graff’s master diamond cutters, who will assess the rough stone’s potential and decide what are the optimum cut to make out of the rough will be.
Africa-focused Gem Diamonds has sold a 13.33 carat pink diamond recovered at its flagship Letšeng mine in Lesotho last month for $8.8 million.
The high quality pink colour type I diamond sold at a tender in Antwerp, Belgium, achieving a record price per carat of almost $657,000.
The Letšeng mine is well known for yielding some extraordinary diamonds, At an average elevation of 3,100 metres above sea level, Letšeng is also one of the world’s highest diamond mines.
According to market analysts, the average price for pink, yellow, blue and green stones has risen consistently by 12% a year over the last few decades, driven by consumer demand for exotic and unusual diamonds. This means they are less affected by other factors driving general diamonds’ supply and demand.
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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