![]() To a lot of rap music artists the latest must-have symbol of conspicuous consumption is jewelry made up of black diamonds. | ![]() | ![]() |
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![]() The 14.62-carat ‘Oppenheimer Blue’ sold for a record $57.5 million on May 18, 2016. $ 3.93m per carat. | All coloured diamonds contain interstitial impurities or structural defects that cause the colouration. Pure diamonds are transparent and colourless. Type IIa diamonds can be coloured pink, red, or brown due to structural anomalies caused through plastic deformation during crystal growth. | ![]() The flawless 12.03-carat 'Blue Moon' Fancy Vivid Blue diamond was sold at Sotheby’s in Geneva on November 19, 2015, for $48.4m. $4m a carat. |
![]() | The Hope Diamond is 45.52 carats and is the largest deep-blue diamond known. The stone can be traced to Golconda and is considered by many to be the most famous diamond in the world. Now on permanent display at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. It is a Type IIb diamond and exhibits red phosphorescence after exposure to ultraviolet light. The diamond is notorious for supposedly being cursed. | ![]() |
![]() | The Wittelsbach-Graff is a 31.06-carat, Fancy Deep Grayish Blue diamond with an IF clarity and an unusual cut with 82 facets. The stone sold in 2008 for $24.3 million. A 13.22 carat pear-shaped Fancy Vivid blue flawless diamond sold at Christie's Geneva on May 14, 2014 for $ 24m, setting a new world auction record at the time for a blue diamond. It was renamed 'The Winston Blue'. | ![]() |
![]() | The rarity of chameleon diamonds is due to their unusual ability to change color temporarily when heated to about 150°C, or after prolonged storage in the dark. Chameleon diamonds will show different colors if observed under halogen light, incandescent light and daylight. If Chameleon diamonds are exposed to heat they can change to a greenish-yellowish color very quickly and when they cool down and stabilize their normal color will return; this is known as thermochroism. ![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() | In the case of Chameleon diamonds, an excess of hydrogen and a small amount of nitrogen has entered the diamond and this creates the unique colour-changing property. Most Chameleon Diamonds return to a green shade after exposure to heat or light. These diamonds usually fluoresce yellow. They often take on a strong red glow when they are being polished. |
![]() | The Chopard Chameleon Diamond is a 31.32 carat oval-cut chameleon diamond and the largest known.![]() | ![]() |
![]() 0.49 Carat VS1 Pear Shape Fancy Dark Chameleon Diamond | ![]() 0.50 Carat Cushion Fancy Deep Chameleon Diamond | ![]() 0.52 carat Fancy Deep brownish Greenish-Yellow Chameleon diamond. |
![]() | Beauty is a powerful thing - almost as powerful as semantics. There's no better evidence for this than the surging popularity of champagne diamonds - colored diamonds that in actuality, are brown diamonds with a luxe name and a yellowish shade. As alluring and sought after as champagne diamonds are today, they weren't always so appreciated. | ![]() |
![]() | In the past, natural fancy brown diamonds weren't especially trendy. However, champagne diamonds have managed to gain increasing attention in recent years from collectors and investors. When Rio Tinto's Argyle Mine determined that nearly half of the stones in their deposit were brown, it was clear that new marketing tactics were required. They coined the term "champagne diamonds," which suggested an air of luxury, elegance and affluence. | ![]() |
The word "champagne" is not used on grading reports from the GIA. Instead, the color would be described as fancy light yellow brown, fancy yellowish brown, or similar.
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![]() | A major reason that champagne diamonds have been gaining vogue is that they have been embraced by the most fashion-forward A-list celebrities. As with all colored diamonds, the color and its strength of hue is the most significant factor in determining value. The darker and rare cognac diamonds come at the highest cost, while champagne diamonds on the lighter end of the spectrum (C1 to C3) are more common and therefore less expensive. ![]() | ![]() |
![]() | The most well-known champagne diamond is the Golden Jubilee. It weighed 755 carats rough and resulted in a 545.67 carat gemstone. It's the largest faceted diamond in the world. Discovered in South Africa's Cullinan Diamond Mine in 1985, it was given to the King of Thailand in 1997 to celebrate his reign. The Great Chrysanthemum Diamond is a fancy brown pear shaped modified brilliant cut that measures 104.15 carats. The diamond originated in South Africa. | ![]() |
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![]() | A combination of black and white, gray is a non-spectral color. In their purest forms, gray color diamonds come quite close to colorless stones. Among colored diamonds, gray diamonds are relatively unknown. This may be due to their extreme rarity. Far more rare than yellow and brown diamonds, gray diamonds are in the lower range of fancy colored diamonds prices ... their pricing is so attractive that they can be considered an alternative to white colorless diamonds based on price. | ![]() |
![]() | In the niche of gray diamonds, there are nearly endless options. The human eye can distinguish up to 500 shades of gray and this is probably the number of gray diamond colors there are. Gray diamonds are graded in the following intensity levels: Light Gray, Fancy Light Gray, Fancy Gray, Fancy Dark Gray, and Fancy Deep Gray. ![]() The most common color modifiers according to the GIA are yellowish, greenish, bluish and violet. | ![]()
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![]() | Lab graders assess the natural color of green diamonds by this skin. Irradiated green diamonds are often found in the marketplace, so determining natural color for value is key. Labs may be unable to conclusively determine the natural origin of green diamonds because the cause is radiation. | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() | ![]() 1.56 carat, Fancy Vivid Green Diamond |
![]() | The Dresden Green is a 40.70 carat, pear shaped stone with a VS1 clarity grade. It was reported as one of the largest and finest natural green diamonds ever discovered. | ![]() |
![]() | The Ocean Dream The diamond is a 5.51-carat, fancy deep blue-green, shield-shaped diamond. It is the only natural diamond known with this color combination. | ![]() |
![]() | The Chopard Chameleon, is a 31.31ct Oval-cut diamond which appears green in bright light but looks yellow in darkness. This stone was one of the first reported by the GIA as a chameleon in the late 1950s.![]() | ![]() |
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![]() | The largest fancy-vivid orange diamond known to exist sold for 32.6 million Swiss francs ($36 million) at Christie’s International in Geneva in late 2013. The 14.82-carat pear-shaped stone’s price was about $2.4 million per carat, this was a per-carat record for any colored diamond at a public sale. The gem also set a record for an orange diamond of its type. ![]() | ![]() |
![]() | A 4.08-Carat Fancy Vivid Orange Diamond Ring blew past it's US$1.6 – 1.8 million estimate at Sotheby's Hong Kong auction in April 2016, bringing $ 2.3m The 'Mandarin Orange' is a 4.19-Carat Fancy Vivid Orange Diamond. It sold for $2.9 million in 2011. | ![]() |
![]() Orange Diamonds may contain a brown, yellow or pinkish modifying color. | The majority of diamonds contain some nitrogen. In orange diamonds the nitrogen atoms have grouped themselves in a very specific way. This happens during and right after the diamond is formed. Nitrogen arrangements absorb light in the blue and yellow region of the spectrum producing an orange color. | ![]() The strength of colour is one of the most important factors in determining the value of a natural color diamond. The value increases exponentially with the intensity of the most prominent colour within the diamond. Pure Orange diamonds are impossibly rare. |
![]() | The Pumpkin Diamond is 5.54 carats and rated as Fancy Vivid Orange by the GIA. Halle Berry wore the ring to the 2002 Oscars where she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Monster's Ball. The popularity of orange diamonds zoomed.![]() | ![]() |
![]() 2.00-carat, fancy vivid orange, heart-shaped Lady Orquidea Diamond | ![]() | ![]() Fancy Vivid Orange Yellow & Fancy Brown Orange Pink IF Pear Shape Diamond TW 10.62cts. |
![]() | Pink Diamonds are among the most sought after, rarest and most expensive. One of the reasons for this is the supply of natural fancy pink diamonds is extremely low. Before the discovery of the Argyle Mine in the 1980’s, production of fancy pink diamonds was virtually non-existent. When Argyle went live, it quickly gained the reputation as the only reliable consistent source of high quality pinks in the world. With a near monopoly on the world’s pink diamond market, Rio Tinto began to invest in marketing and were responsible for driving demand even further. |
![]() The 'Pink Star' is a flawless 59.6-carat pink diamond. It was sold in 2003 for $ 83m but the buyer reneged. | The combination of extreme popularity with extreme scarcity makes for very pricy diamonds. Fine quality pink diamonds without modifying colors trail only red diamonds as the most expensive natural diamond color in the world. Pink diamonds are graded as follows; Fancy Light Pink, Fancy Pink, Fancy Intense Pink, Fancy Vivid Pink | ![]() The Graff Pink is an emerald cut 24.78 carats, type IIa fancy intense pink diamond. It sold at auction for $ 46m in 2010. |
![]() The Vivid Pink, a 5.00-carat stone sold for $17.8 million ($2.1 million per carat) at Christie Hong Kong in 2009. | ![]() 17.07 carat fancy intense pink diamond VVS1 made $20.8m in 2016. | ![]() Sotheby’s sold the 8.72-carat Fancy Vivid ‘Historic Pink Diamond’ for $15.9 million in 2015. |
![]() | Purple is the colour of royalty, of courage and honor. For hundreds of years, it was the colour of kings, as only royalty could wear purple. Purple heart medals are given to soldiers killed or wounded in action, as a recognition of their bravery and sacrifice. Pure purple diamonds are nearly impossible to find. Most natural purple diamonds are lightly shaded with hints of pink, red, blue, gray or even brown, tinting the diamond slightly and lowering the overall perceived quality of the gem. Purple diamonds are most commonly found in Australian mines. | ![]() |
![]() | The Royal Purple Heart Diamond is the largest Fancy Vivid Purple diamond known to exist. The stone, believed to have originated in Russia, weighs 7.34 carats, has a clarity of I-1, and was cut into its perfect heart shape by the Julius Klein Diamond Corporation. The diamond's current owners are unknown. Despite its name, the Supreme Purple Heart is a round brilliant cut. Its precise color grade is not known, nor is its clarity. Even its weight is estimated from two to five carats. Like the Royal Purple Heart Diamond, the Supreme Purple Heart's origins have not been confirmed, but most believe it was mined in the Amazon basin within the last 30 years. The diamond's color changes – when viewed from one angle, it appears deep purple, and from another angle looks deep red. | ![]() |
![]() | A fancy intense pinkish purple VS2 diamond debuted in 2014. The 3.37-carat gem, named the “Purple Orchid,” has an asking price of $4 million, or nearly $1.2 million per carat. Leibish & Co. purchased the South African diamond as a rough of more than 4 carats and spent four months cutting and polishing the gem. | ![]() ![]() |
![]() 10.09 carat modified cushion cut fancy vivid purple-pink diamond, SI1 clarity. $ 12- $15m ![]() 6.89 carat fancy vivid purple pink diamond sold for $6,914,500. | ![]() 8.41 carat flawless purple pink diamond sold for $17.77 million in 2014. | ![]() A 12.95-ct. IF, fancy purple-pink radiant cut diamond engagement ring. |
![]() | Pure red diamonds devoid of secondary hues are the rarest in the world. The Argyle Diamond Mine is the only known significant source of pink and red diamonds, producing 95% of the world's supply. In the last 30 years of mining, Argyle has found a total of thirteen red diamonds. Red diamonds are so rare there is little gemological information about them. | ![]() What is known is that crystal lattice defects showing stress lamination during the diamond's formation is the cause of the red color. |
![]() | Red diamonds rose to prominence in April 1987 during a Christie’s auction where a 0.95 carat round brilliant cut Fancy Purplish Red diamond made a record-breaking $927,000 per carat. In 1998, the New-York based William Goldberg Co. cut and sold the largest fancy red diamond known, a 5.11 carat shield-shaped Fancy Red diamond, the Moussaieff Red. It is one of the key attractions of the Smithsonian and is the world's largest known red diamond. | ![]() |
![]() | The Kazanjian Red Diamond is one of the three known red diamonds weighing more than 5 carats. The gem was discovered in the 1920s in Litchenburg, South Africa.
It was 35 carats uncut. A diamond broker paid eight pounds per carat for it. ![]() | ![]() |
![]() | The Rob Red Diamond is modest in size at 0.59 carats but it still holds a special place in the diamond world. The Rob Red is rated as the most intense red diamond ever discovered. The diamond is rated fancy purplish red by the GIA and is considered the most important red diamond in the world. The De Young Red is 5.03 carats and graded as Fancy Brownish Red. It was found in South Africa in 1927. The stone was once mistakenly sold as a red garnet that was set in a hat pin. | ![]() |
![]() A 3.15-carat fancy reddish-orange diamond sold for $2.09 million, or $666,200 per carat in 2012. | ![]() The Graff Purplish-red diamond, is a 2.26-carat, modified octagonal-cut, fancy purplish-red, SI2 clarity diamond. It sold for $ 2,646,000 in 2008. | ![]() A 1.92-carat, rectangular-cut, fancy red diamond sold for $ 3,252,675 in 2013. That price set a new price-per-carat auction record of $ 1,694,101 |
![]() | A heart-shape fancy red diamond ring by Moussaieff set a world auction record at Christie’s Hong Kong on November 25, 2014. The 2.09 carat ring sold for $5,095,872, setting a new record of $2.44 million per carat. | ![]() |
![]() | Pure violet diamonds without secondary modifying colors are impossibly rare, perhaps even rarer than purple diamonds. The presence of the trace element hydrogen in the atomic lattice is responsible for violet diamonds while purple diamonds are caused by plastic deformation. Violet diamonds and purple diamonds therefore consist of two separate colors. Some industry professionals use the words “violet” and “purple” interchangeably. Violet diamonds are a distinct color group. Violet diamonds will appear more blue-grey to the eye while purple diamonds appear red or pinkish. | ![]() ![]() |
Natural fancy violet diamonds are extremely valuable. Even more valuable are those that are a pure violet color without any secondary modifying color. Modifying colors tend to devalue violet diamonds, but they are still exceptionally rare and will always be highly valued. |
![]() The Argyle Violet | The Argyle Violet, a 2.83 oval shaped violet diamond, is the dazzling centerpiece of the 2016 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender. It is the largest violet diamond ever recovered from the Argyle mine. Just 12 carats of polished violet diamonds have come from the Argyle mine over 32 years of mining. | ![]() The rough gem originally weighed 9.17 carats. |
![]() The Sun-Drop Diamond is the largest known Fancy Vivid Yellow pear-shaped diamond at 110.03 carats. It sold in November 2011 for $12.4m. | For centuries the most prized diamonds have been pure white or deep coloured blue, red, pink, or green. Yellow diamonds have not been highly prized, and have been seen as inferior to white diamonds. Yellow diamonds are rare and are much more appreciated today, as celebrities sport the gems regularly. The term 'canary' diamonds has been incorporated into the modern term “Fancy Yellow”. The GIA grades natural Fancy Yellow diamonds into 4 main qualities, Fancy Light, Fancy Yellow, Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid. | ![]() The Graff Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond weighs 100.09 carats and is graded VS2 clarity. It set a world auction record for a yellow diamond in 2014.– $16,347,848 |
![]() 75.56-carat cushion modified brilliant-cut Fancy Vivid yellow diamond - $ 3.8m | Yellow diamonds range from a pale delicate yellow to a pure rich canary or sunflower yellow. Yellow diamonds may also have secondary shades, primarily orange or brownish, which affect the clarity of the color. Greenish or pinkish secondary shades are extremely rare and extremely valuable. Yellow diamonds are graded similarly to white diamonds, with the exception of color and cut. Unlike white diamonds, which are prized on the lack of color, yellow diamonds are graded for clarity of color. Fancy Vivid Yellow grades are extremely rare. ![]() | ![]() |
![]() The Tiffany Yellow Diamond was a 287.42 carat rough and is one of the largest yellow diamonds ever discovered. It was cut to 128.54 carats in a cushion shape with 90 facets to bring out the brilliance of the stone. | ![]() | ![]() The Incomparable is the largest yellow diamond and third largest diamond in the world. The 407.48-carat gemstone is described as a golden-coloured kite-shaped diamond, graded as flawless and fancy deep brownish-yellow by the GIA. |
![]() | The De Beers diamond. Weighing 234.65 carats, the De Beers is the seventh largest faceted diamond in the world. After its display in Paris the Maharaja of Patiala bought the stone. In 1928 Cartier of Paris set it as the centerpiece of a ceremonial necklace that came to be known as the Patiala Necklace. | ![]() |
![]() | The Constellation, a 813-carat rough became the most valuable diamond of the year when it sold for $63.3 million in May. It was found at Lucara's Karowe mine in Botswana. It was bought by Nemesis International, which sold the rights to market the huge rough to Fawaz Gruosi of de GRISOGONO. The day before the discovery of The Constellation, an even bigger diamond was found at Karowe. The 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona – the second largest uncut diamond in history. Lucara plans to sell the stone in H1 2017. |
![]() | Also in May, the Oppenheimer Blue, a 14.62-carat emerald cut Fancy Vivid blue diamond dubbed the “gem of gems’, sold for $57.7 million at Christie’s Geneva, setting a world auction record price for a blue diamond and becoming the most expensive gemstone ever sold at auction. $ 3.9m per carat. | ![]() |
![]() The 10.10-carat De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 sold for $32 million or $ 3.1m per carat in April of 2016. |
![]() | ![]() A 7.32-carat pear-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond sold for more than $17.1 million at Sotheby’s Geneva in May. $ 2.3m per carat |
![]() | Pair of diamonds, weighing 52.55 and 50.47 carats, D colour, IF Type IIa. They sold for $17.6 million at Christie’s Geneva in November. 17.07 carat fancy intense pink diamond VVS1 made $20.8m in November 2016. | ![]() |
![]() | Rio Tinto’s spectacular 2016 Pink Diamonds Tender collection of 63 rare pink, red and violet diamonds from its Argyle mine delivered a record result in November, reflecting strong global demand for these increasingly rare diamonds. Known as The Chroma Collection, the 2016 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender comprised the highest quality, size and colour composition in the Tender’s 32 year history. The 2016 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender achieved the highest average price per carat since the Tender began in 1984. The Argyle Violet was secured by L.J. West Diamonds Inc, which plans to showcase the historic diamond at the Diamonds: Rare Brilliance exhibition at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in December 2016. |
![]() | Rio Tinto’s 2016 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender was launched during at a world exclusive preview in Copenhagen. | ![]() |
![]() The Argyle Violet | The “Chroma Collection” comprises 57 pink diamonds, two violet diamonds and four red diamonds and weighs a total of 58.24 carats. The Argyle Violet, a 2.83 oval violet diamond, is the centerpiece of the tender. It is the largest violet diamond ever recovered from the Argyle mine. Violet diamonds are extremely rare – with just 12 carats of polished diamonds coming from the Argyle mine over 32 years. | ![]() The rough gem originally weighed 9.17 carats and had etchings, pits and crevices. The Argyle Violet was polished down to a 2.83 carat, oval-shaped diamond. |
![]() Ultra™ 1.11 carat pear shaped violet diamond | Pink, blue and red diamonds are seen as investments that have performed extremely well. Wealthy buyers in volatile economies view rare, colored diamonds as a hedge against economic uncertainty. | ![]() Argyle Aria™, 1.09 carat oval shaped Fancy Red diamond |
![]() Viva™ 1.21 carat pear shaped Vivid purple pink diamond | ![]() Thea™ 2.24 carat radiant cut Vivid purplish pink | ![]() |
See ----->http://highlifelivingluxury.blogspot.ca/2015/07/argyle-pinks.html
![]() ![]() | Australia's Argyle Diamond mine is the world's primary source (95%) of rare pink 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/ct to US$1,000,000/ct and far beyond. | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() | ![]() 8.41 carat Purple-Pink Diamond. It made $17,778,247 in 2015 | ![]() |
![]() The 12.04-carat "The Martian Pink" sold for $17m in May 2012, twice it's pre-sale estimate of $ 8m. | ![]() The Argyle Toki is a 1.59ct emerald cut Fancy Intense Purplish Pink diamond |
![]() The Argyle Siren, 1.32 ct. square radiant cut Fancy Vivid Purplish Pink, VS2 | ![]() Laurence Graff set the entire first tender of Argyle pinks in this brooch |
![]() | ![]() | ![]() The 24.78 carat Graff Pink Diamond and a 5 carat Fancy Vivid Pink |