Luxury house Graff has unveiled a new ring with a centre stone crafted from the 13.33 carat Lesotho Pink diamond.
The end result of is a 5.63 carat ‘fancy vivid purplish pink’ pear shape diamond flanked by two ‘fancy intense pink’ pear shaped diamond shoulder stones and embraced by a minimal rose gold setting.
The firm claims that its expert gemmologists and master craftsmen spent many months analysing the complexities of the diamond before devising “how best to capture the extraordinary beauty of its unusually vibrant pink hue”.
The rough stone had been discovered at the Letseng mine in Lesotho in February, with Laurence Graff purchasing it for $8.75 million.
This was a record for the purchase of any Letseng diamond in terms of dollar per carat.
The firm shares: “The world’s already extremely limited resources of pink diamonds are quickly depleting, as the mines where these rarities are discovered gradually become extinct.
“They are highly sought after by those who want to enter the rarefied and exclusive group of connoisseurs who appreciate these precious pink stones for their sublime beauty.
“Graff searches timelessly for the very best examples displaying the most vivid and vibrant colour, identifying once in a lifetime discoveries and creating jewels that showcase their remarkable hues.”
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.
A pink diamond ring named for its resemblance to bubble gum fetched $7.5 million at Christie’s Hong Kong auction.
The exceptional fancy vivid purplish pink internally flawless brilliant cut cushion, Sold for $2.2 million per carat.
The ring was designed by Moussaieff and features the Cushion weighing 3.43 carats diamond as well as pear shaped pink diamonds and marquise cut white diamonds.
The estimated was $6 million to $8 million.
The ring was the top selling lot at the Magnificent Jewels sale.
More than 110,000 Western Australian couples have celebrated a special occasion featuring a piece of Rosendorff’s fine jewellery.
An announcement to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said a meeting of creditors was set to get under way at 11am Thursday.
Richard Tucker of KordaMentha Restructuring, appointed receivers and managers of Rosendorff Diamond Jewellers, said the business was holding too much stock.
“We are running a short highly discounted sale through the store to materially reduce the current stock levels whilst a sale or recapitalisation of the business is pursued,” Mr Tucker said.
I have always loved the mystique of diamonds. I’m attracted to the joy and romance they bring to their beholders
Craig Rosendorff “It is a tremendous opportunity to acquire a very special jewellery item at very competitive prices and may also help save an iconic Perth jeweller.”
He said a secured creditor would support the receivers to ensure current special orders, repairs and lay-bys were completed in time for the special occasions they might be destined for.
“From proposals, to weddings and anniversaries, we understand the importance and significance these items have on people’s special memories,” Mr Tucker said.
Daniel Hillston Woodhouse of FTI Consulting has been appointed as administrator.
Rosendorff is an iconic West Australian luxury business specialising in diamonds and bespoke jewellery design headed by Craig Rosendorff.
In 1975 Mr Rosendorff renamed and launched what became one of the longest-standing diamond companies in Australia.
His rags to riches story has been dubbed The Diamond Dream.
“I have always loved the mystique of diamonds,” he says on the company’s website.
“I’m attracted to the joy and romance they bring to their beholders, the heritage and their connection to families across generations.”
The large, glamorous showroom in the centre of Perth on Hay Street has been the setting of many magnificent parties and events showcasing the designs of the Rosendorff team.
Mr Tucker said gift cards and store credits would be honoured while trade continues.
White knight rescues collapased Rosendorff Diamond Jewellers
The Rosendorff fine jewellery business will carry on but under new ownership following a deal struck by receivers appointed last month.
Insolvency firm KordaMentha confirmed today it had struck an agreement to sell the business set up by Craig Rosendorff in the 1980s to an unidentified WA buyer also involved in the jewellery trade.
The deal, expected to be finalised in two to three weeks, guarantees more than 20 jobs and covers the Rosendorff trading name, stock and intellectual property.
Receivers from KordaMentha were put into Rosendorff Diamond Jewellers at the end of April.
The business, which owes at least $4 million to creditors, has shrunk on falling sales in the past three years to just its flagship store in Hay Street Mall.
The deal covers the Rosendorff trading name, stock and intellectual property.
Today’s sale announcement coincided with news the receivers are stepping up a discount sale which has already brought in between $2 million and $3 million.
The West Australian revealed yesterday that administrators from FTI Consulting had identified “irregularities” in the company’s accounts while sheeting home blame for the collapse to the mining downturn.
They questioned a $1.8 million shortfall in stock and four transactions totalling $170,000 where jewellery “left the store without payment”.
FTI said “there were limited controls around the accounting and inventory functions, which have led to some anomalies in the financial accounts”.
However, it noted that such irregularities were not uncommon, and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Mr Rosendorff.
The firm’s statutory report on Rosendorffs also noted that Mr Rosendorff, who has invested millions of dollars in the business over the past 30 years, had drawn increasing amounts out of the company as its financial situation deteriorated.
Between July 2017 and FTI’s appointment, those withdrawals totalled $1.8 million, including $582,000 in the past 10 months.
The administrators says Rosendorffs had been under financial pressure for two years, citing “cash leakage” and a steady decline in sales after 2011, triggered by the end of the mining boom.
Gordon Brothers is owed about $2.2 million, Rosendorffs’ staff $400,000 and trade creditors $270,000.
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.
Rio Tinto’s fading Argyle diamond mine looks set to go out on a high, after posting its best financial performance in years.
Diamond markets are notoriously opaque, and Argyle’s performance cannot be gleaned through the financial results Rio reports every six months.
But new filings with the Australian Securities and Exchange Commission (ASIC) reveal revenues at Argyle, which is scheduled to close in 2020, surged to their highest levels in a decade in 2018.
The $370.6 million of revenue generated was 26 per cent higher than in 2017 and was the highest revenue reported by Argyle since 2008.
The improved financial performance was not constrained to revenue; the $148.4 million of cash flow from operations was virtually double the 2017 result, almost quadruple the 2016 result and the best since 2015.
The revenue and cash flow surge came, perversely, in a year when Argyle processed 10 per cent more ore than in 2017, but produced 18 per cent fewer diamonds; a situation that normally implies higher unit costs and poorer financial performance.
It is understood the big increase in revenue was driven by higher sales volumes in 2018 compared to previous years.
Revenue was also boosted by a stronger US currency and improving prices for the pink diamonds Argyle produces, which are tipped to enjoy greater scarcity value as the mine’s closure draws near.
Higher diamond sales in a year when Argyle’s diamond production slumped highlights the sort of opacity that makes diamond markets difficult for investors to predict.
Diamond production likely to be lower
While Argyle’s closure in 2020 appears certain, it is unclear whether Rio has built a sufficient war chest of pink diamonds to continue its annual pink diamond tender beyond the end of the mine’s life.
Rio keeps diamond pricing confidential, but within the past year the company’s diamond boss, Arnaud Soirat, has pointed to recent public auctions in which Argyle pink diamonds sold for more than $US1 million per carat.
Argyle’s revenue and cash flow surge belied the $128.6 million loss before tax that was reported to ASIC last week by the Rio subsidiary that owns the mine.
That loss was heavily influenced by a $145.4 million non-cash expense related to the closure of the mine.
Diamond production at Argyle looks set to be lower again in 2019 if the first quarter is any guide; production in the three months to March 31 was 22 per cent lower than in the same period of 2019, and 13 per cent lower than in the final three months of 2018.
The rare insight to Argyle’s financial performance comes as Rio directors and executive management fly into Western Australia this week for the company’s annual meeting of Australian shareholders on Thursday.
Chairman Simon Thompson has urged shareholders to vote against a resolution put forward by climate campaigners, which would compel Rio to set targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The resolution explicitly calls for reduction targets linked to scope 3 emissions; the emissions generated by the companies Rio sells its products to.
Such a target would include Asian steelmakers, which create significant emissions when they blend Rio’s flagship product, Australian iron ore, with coking coal to make steel.
Mr Thompson has argued that emissions generated by such customers are beyond the control of Rio, and therefore the company cannot set such targets.
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.
Lucapa Diamond Company will sell six large stones weighing a total of 449 carats from its Lulo mine in Angola after an overhaul of the nation’s mining laws prompted it to delay the sale, it said.
The Angolan government introduced reforms to its diamond sector in the first half of the year to help boost foreign investment. Those measures included a new marketing policy for Angolan diamonds, and the option of offering goods for sale in locations such as Antwerp.
Anticipating the changes, Lucapa has been holding back a selection of large stones from previous sales, and will now sell them under the new policy, it explained Friday. These include six type IIa white diamonds weighing 114 carats, 85 carats, 75 carats, 70 carats, 62 carats and 43 carats, as well as a 46-carat pink diamond.
“The discussions with our Angolan partners regarding the policy changes taking place in the Angolan diamond sector have reached a stage where we are now able to plan for the sale of these large, premium-value Lulo diamonds held over from previous sales,” Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall said. “We look forward to marketing these exceptional diamonds as soon as the necessary arrangements are put in place to continue showcasing Angolan diamonds to the world.”
The decision to delay the tender for those stones had a negative impact on Lucapa’s first-half results, the company added. Its losses grew to $4.6 million for the period, versus a loss of $1.2 million a year earlier.
Even so, Lucapa’s sales rose 3% year on year to $15.9 million in the first half, while production for the same period climbed 15% to 9,566 carats. The average price of rough diamonds from Lulo rose 1% to $1,642 per carat. Rough-diamond inventory from the asset grew 61% year on year to 2,755 carats as of June 30, the miner reported.
Lucapa’s most recent sale of 2,531 carats of rough from Lulo fetched $2.5 million, achieving an average price of $985 per carat, the company noted.
The company announced that it has recovered a 46 carat pink diamond from the Lulo diamond project in Angola, a source of a series of high carat discoveries in recent years.
What makes this particular find significant for Lucapa is its location. The 46 carat rough diamond was recovered from a new prospect Mining Block 4, an area planned for resource delineation later this year and set to be included in Lucapa’s alluvial JORC resource update to be published in the coming months.
