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Rare Argyle Violet Diamond Sold to L.J. West
Nov 8, 2016 7:01 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... L.J. West Diamonds bought the Argyle Violet diamond, the
centerpiece of Rio Tinto’s Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, which this year delivered
the highest average price on record in 32 years.
The New York-based company plans to showcase the
oval-shaped, 2.83-carat polished stone at an exhibition of diamonds at the
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in December.
The piece “is a truly unique treasure that we are proud to
be exhibiting as one of the finest examples of a historic fancy color diamond,”
said Larry West, president of L.J. West Diamonds.
The Argyle Violet is
the largest violet diamond recovered from Rio Tinto’s
Argyle mine in Western Australia. The
deposit has produced only 12 carats of polished violet diamonds for the tender
in 32 years.
Rio Tinto said the tender overall fetched its highest
average price per carat since the sale started in 1984, reflecting “strong
global demand these increasingly rare diamonds.” The value of Argyle pink
diamonds sold at the tender has grown by more than 300 per cent over the past
15 years, Rio Tinto said.
 The 2016 tender, named the “Chroma Collection,” featured 63
pink, red and violet diamonds the Argyle mine. Buyers this year came from 10
countries. It was the first to feature solely diamonds from Argyle’s
underground mine.
Meanwhile, Leibish & Co, a fancy color diamond
specialist, said it bought an emerald-shape, 0.71-carat, fancy intense pink, IF
diamond at the tender. The stone was the first IF diamond offered at the sale
in more than 20 years, Leibish said.
Rio Tinto declined to disclose sale prices or the total
revenue from the tender. |
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Tags:
Argyle, Argyle mine, Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, Chroma Collection, colored diamonds, L.J. West, Leibish & Co, Pink diamonds, Rapaport News, violet diamonds
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