Image credit: Rio Tinto
In one of its very last offerings to an exclusive group of collectors, diamond connoisseurs and luxury jewellery houses, Rio Tinto has provided a virtual preview of rare Argyle pink, red, violet and blue diamonds from its iconic diamond mine.
The 2020 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, a collection of the rarest diamonds from a year’s production from the Argyle mine in the remote east Kimberley region of Western Australia at the mine, is headlined with Lot Number 1, the largest Fancy Vivid round brilliant diamond ever offered at the Tender. The 2.24-carat Fancy Vivid Purplish Pink diamond known as Argyle Eternity™ is part of the historic collection comprising 62 diamonds weighing 57.23 carats.
Rio Tinto chief executive of Copper and Diamonds, Arnaud Soirat said “Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine is the first and only ongoing source of rare pink, red and violet diamonds in the world. We have seen, and continue to see, strong demand for these highly coveted diamonds, which together with extremely limited global supply, supports the significant value appreciation for Argyle pink diamonds.”
Titled One Lifetime, One Encounter, the 2020 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender takes its reference from the closure of the iconic mine at the end of 2020, after almost four decades of production. Also included in the Tender 2020 offering are 12 lots of carefully curated and never to be repeated sets of miniature rare Argyle pink, red, blue and violet diamonds, weighing 13.90 carats in total. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender has been previewed virtually with exclusive invitees before viewings later in the year at the Argyle mine, in Perth and then travelling to Singapore and Antwerp.
The bids close on December 2, 2020.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
