Pink Tourmaline

There has been increased interest in fine pink tourmaline gems. A major reason is the market for pink tourmaline, like much of the jewelry industry, is driven by Chinese demand, where growing wealth fueled an insatiable appetite for fine jewelry and exquisite gems.

Wallace Chan's ’Vividity’ brooch, with a rare elbaite tourmaline in the centre.

Empress Dowager Tz’u Hsi. A large pink tourmaline, along with pearls, adorns her headdress. The gemstone’s resurgence in popularity has pushed prices for high quality pieces to ever higher levels.

China’s demand for pink tourmaline, and the pinkish-red variety known as rubellite, is not new. Part of this penchant for the pink stone is owed to the fact that pink tourmaline was the favorite gemstone of the Empress Dowager Tz’u Hsi of China in the late 19th century. During the late 1800s, much of the pink and red tourmaline mined in California, where the gem was first found in 1890s, was shipped to China.

Paolo Costagli Pink Tourmaline & Pink Sapphire Ring

Today most tourmaline comes from Africa, particularly Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria and Tanzania. Tourmaline is a silicate compounded with aluminum, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium or potassium. Tourmaline has a hardness level of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale. It is also extremely durable. The best tourmaline displays excellent transparency and a vitreous luster.

White gold, one 14.27-carat cushion-shaped rubellite, brilliants. Cartier.

Platinum, mandarin garnets, pink tourmalines, tanzanites, tsavorite garnets, yellow diamonds, brilliants. Cartier.

Hemmerle often incorporates large, vivid colored pink tourmalines and rubellites.

Robert Procop ring featuring a 31.74-carat rubellite surrounded by a melange of pavé diamonds, pink sapphires and rubies.

Buccellati Dream Cuff Bracelet in white and yellow gold with tourmaline and diamonds

Panthère de Cartier Bracelet set with a rubellite, pink sapphires, diamonds and onyx

Van Cleef & Arpels Lady’s Cocktail Ring set with diamonds, carved rubellite and turquoise

Rio Tinto’s Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender

Australia's Argyle Diamond mine is the world's primary source (96%) of rare pink and red diamonds. Pink diamonds are at very least 20 times the price of an equivalent white diamond. This places them in the rarified air of most highly concentrated form of wealth on Earth. After being cut and polished at Rio Tinto’s diamond cutting and polishing factory in Perth, exceptional pink diamonds from each year's production are sold individually at 'tenders'. The diamonds average around a carat each with 40 to 50 carats in total sold each year. Of every million carats of rough diamonds produced at the Argyle mine, less than one carat is suitable for sale in one of the tenders. Prices can range from US $100,000/carat to US$1,000,000/ct and far beyond.

L.J. West Diamonds bought the Argyle Violet diamond, the centerpiece of Rio Tinto’s Argyle Pink Diamonds 2016 Tender, which delivered the highest average price on record in 32 years. The Argyle Violet is the largest violet diamond recovered from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Western Australia. The mine has produced 12 carats of polished violet diamonds for the tender in 32 years.

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 12.04-carat "The Martian Pink" sold for $17m in May 2012, twice it's pre-sale estimate of $ 8m.

In March 2012 a 12.76-carat pink diamond was unearthed at Argyle, the largest ever found. It was christened as the Argyle Pink Jubilee.

Rio Tinto's Argyle mine is scheduled to close production by 2020. Reports suggest less than two years of reserves remain. According to Rio Tinto, Argyle pinks have tripled in value since 2000.

102.34 carat round brilliant up for grabs

A white diamond billed as the largest and purest of its type to come to market is expected to sell for well over US$33m. Sotheby's says the 102.34-carat gem mined from Botswana "is the only known round brilliant-cut diamond over 100 carats perfect according to every critical criterion" -- carats, colour, clarity and cut. It's expected to fetch a price "considerably higher" than the $33.7 million auction record for a white diamond.

Top Private Jewel Collections at Auction

A 32.08-carat Burmese ruby and diamond ring by Chaumet sold for $4.62m. The ring came up for auction again in 2012 and made $6,736,750.

Jewels of Luz Milo Patiño, Countess du Boisrouvray – $31.2m. The collection included rubies, diamonds, pearls, emeralds and sapphires of the finest cuts and quality, as well as her other inherited family possessions, ranging from pre-Columbian gold artifacts to antique furniture, silver, Faberge carved animals, tableware and artwork.

The jewels sold in 1989, making an auction record at the time for any single-owner sale of jewelry and second only to the 1987 Windsor sale.

“The Gulf Pearl Parure”, a natural pearl and diamond parure by Harry Winston sold for $4,189,165

The Royal House Sale – $31.3m. A collection of the finest jewelry and watches totaling 317 lots were sold in 2006 from an anonymous royal house, including a selection of natural pearls and diamonds pieces created by the world’s major jewelers.

The collection of Mrs. Lily Safra: $37.9m. A Brazilian philanthropist who amassed a fortune through 4 marriages hosted an auction of 70 pieces from her personal jewelry collection for charity in May 2012. Highlights included a ruby Camellia brooch by JAR, which sold for $4.3m and a tourmaline and diamond flower brooch by JAR, which brought $ 1.2m.

32.08 carat cushion-shaped Burmese ruby, 34.05 carat rectangular-cut diamond, 31.21 carat rectangular-cut Burmese sapphire by Boucheron.

Cartier Paris, 1949. Platinum, white gold; Single-cut diamonds; two pear-shaped yellow diamonds, one 152.35-carat Kashmir sapphire cabochon.

The Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor – $50.3 million. The sale of the jewels of the Duchess of Windsor in 1987 at Sotheby’s set numerous auction records. An international celebrity and fashion icon, the Duchess had famously lured King Edward of England away from his throne in favor of marrying her. Through their 35-year marriage, the Duke showered his wife with custom made jewels from the world’s major jewelry houses.

Elizabeth Taylor amassed a collection of jewels unlike anything the world had ever seen. The collection sold at Christies in New York in late 2011 for $137,235,575. The jewelry included spectacular pieces by Bvlgari, David Webb, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and many pieces by JAR. The headliner was La Peregrina, a 16th century pear necklace which sold for $11,842,500. Elizabeth Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was married eight times to seven husbands. When asked why she married so often, she replied, "I don't know, honey. It sure beats the hell out of me," but then added, "I was taught by my parents that if you fall in love, if you want to have a love affair, you get married. I guess I'm very old-fashioned."

The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond is a 33.19-carat Asscher-cut D color potentially flawless diamond set on a ring that Taylor wore nearly everyday. It sold for $8.8 million, well above its $2.5 million to $3.5 million estimate.

The BVLGARI Emerald Suite, a suite of emerald and diamond jewelry brought a total of $24,799,000. It was acquired between 1962 and 1967.

The BVLGARI Sapphire Sautoir, set with a sugarloaf cabochon sapphire of 52.72 carats sold for $5,906,500. This bold Art Deco style sautoir was a gift from Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor’s 40th birthday in 1972.

The Taj Mahal Diamond, on a gold and ruby chain, by Cartier realized $8,818,500, setting a world auction record for an Indian jewel. Inscribed with the name Nur Jahan, the wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahangir, this heart-shaped diamond is believed to have been a gift from the ruler to his son, who became the great emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666).

The Cartier Ruby Suite, a suite of ruby and diamond jewelry realized a total of $5,403,500. Comprising a necklace, bracelet and earrings, Elizabeth Taylor’s husband, the film producer Mike Todd, presented her with a trio of Cartier boxes in August 1957.

The Richard Burton Ruby and Diamond Ring, of 8.24 carats, by Van Cleef & Arpels, was a gift from Richard Burton, Christmas 1968. This ring achieved $4,226,500 setting a record for a ruby per carat ($512,925). The Night of the Iguana Brooch, by Tiffany & Co. sold for $1,202,500.