Australian-British mining company Rio Tinto has launched its 2024 Beyond Rare Tender with a special collection of rare fancy diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, which closed four years ago.
The second in the Beyond Rare Art auction series, 48 lots will be on sale in the UK, Australia, Singapore and Belgium. The auction will end on November 18.
The rare colored diamonds were extracted at different times from the mine, which operated between 1983 and 2020. The "Awakened Light" collection is headed by the "Seven Masters" - seven round historical diamonds of rare pink and red color, ranging in size from 0.60 carats to 2.63 carats. In addition to the Old Masters, the series includes legacy inventory of pink, red and violet diamonds from the Argyle mine, as well as white and yellow diamonds from the Diavik diamond mine in Canada.
In total, there are 76 diamonds weighing a total of 39.44 carats.
According to Patrick Coppens, Rio Tinto’s general manager of diamond sales and marketing, “each diamond in the Art Series 02 is a beautiful story of esteemed provenance, careful custody and transformation into rare works of art.”
“This curated collection of exceptional gems will be in strong demand by the world’s finest jewellers, collectors and diamond connoisseurs,” he added.
As Rio Tinto Minerals CEO Sinead Kaufman said at the opening of the event in London, “no other mining company in the world has custody of such a kaleidoscope of coloured diamonds.”
“Four years on from the closure of the Argyle mine, our Beyond Rare Tender platform is a testimony to the enduring prestige of the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand, the quality of production from our Diavik mine, and the ongoing demand for highly collectible natural diamonds.”
Hélène Tarin, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
