Rio Tinto announced recently that its second Beyond Rare™ Tender: The Art Series 02 has delivered a strong result. The sale contained rare and unique collection of fancy-coloured diamonds, reflecting the ongoing appeal for rare natural fancy-coloured diamonds in the market.
Titled Colour Awakened, the collection comprises 76 diamonds in 48 lots, including legacy inventory of pink, red and violet diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Argyle diamond mine, together with white and yellow diamonds from its Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada. For the first time, the collection also featured seven Old Masters, notable historic diamonds from the Argyle mine.
Continuing the success of the inaugural event in 2023, bidding for the carefully curated collection resulted in a broad geographic spread of 12 successful bidders from Australia, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Singapore and North America.
Sinead Kaufman, chief executive of Rio Tinto Minerals said: “The continued strong global interest in highly collectible natural coloured diamonds and the resulting value creation, reflects their stature as works of art to be treasured for future generations.”
Careful custodianship is a hallmark of Rio Tinto’s diamonds business and many of the diamonds sold in the Beyond Rare™ Tender are destined for one of a kind jewellery pieces, befitting their extraordinary provenance, said Rio Tinto.
Lot 40 comprising a 4.04-carat pear-shaped pure white diamond from the Diavik diamond mine, together with two extremely rare pear-shaped violet diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine, is entrusted to Danish luxury jeweller Hartmanns, who will collaborate with Argyle Pink Diamonds Icon Partner™ Glajz to craft an heirloom piece of jewellery. Ulrik Hartmann, owner of Hartmanns said: “I am honoured to be creating a jewelled treasure that reflects each magnificent birthplace of these three esteemed diamonds - Argyle in the remote East Kimberley region of Western Australia and Diavik, just below the Arctic Circle on the frozen edge of the earth in Canada’s Northwest Territories.”
There was also strong interest across the North American market with US jeweller and coloured diamond specialist, J FINE, one of the successful bidders from this region. Owner Jordan Fine said: “we have a long relationship with the beautiful Argyle Pink Diamonds™ and we see strong ongoing market demand for the truly rare – irreplaceable fancy-coloured natural diamonds with impeccable provenance.”
According to Rio Tinto, almost the entire world’s supply of rare pink and red diamonds come from Rio Tinto’s Argyle diamond mine which ceased production on 3 November 2020. With 37 years of Argyle production in global markets, Rio Tinto continues to manage the Argyle Pink Diamonds™ brand through sales of remaining inventory, secondary market platforms, certification processes and creative collaborations with Argyle Pink Diamonds Icon Partners™ and other renowned national and international jewellers.
In addition to owning the Argyle Pink Diamonds™ brand, Rio Tinto is the majority owner and operator of the Diavik diamond mine in Canada. Rio Tinto continues to be active in exploration in Canada and Africa where it has signed an exploration joint venture agreement with Endiama, the national diamond mining company of Angola, to evaluate the Chiri kimberlite in the Lunda Sul Province of Angola. (Photo courtesy: Rio Tinto)
11-12-2024
← Back