Invincible. That’s what a “diamond” means if translated from Ancient Greek. It is one of the most robust and rarest minerals on the planet. The oldest diamonds can reach several billion years. But the diamond is a truly unique phenomenon; its endowment with natural color testifies the most unusual circumstances of the formation. Blue, yellow, green, pink diamonds look particularly mysterious and often one-of-a-kind. However, the rarest ones are so-called argyle diamonds.
Argyle diamonds are named after the Argyle mine located in Australia. It’s the main source of high-quality pink diamonds, owned by the industry giant Rio Tinto. This area is a “home” of unique argyle diamonds. Therefore, the Argyle is a brand name in a certain sense.
An Argyle diamond is a gemstone with a deep, saturated pink color mined at the particular mine in Kimberley region, Western Australia. But do not confuse it with Kimberley mine area located in SAR, which has given the name to the Kimberley process – non-conflict diamond protocol. The color gradation of the stones encompasses thousands of natural hues, ranging from a pale pink to bright purple and even red. A pink color occurs due to small deformations in the diamond crystal lattice. As mentioned above, there is only one pink stone per 100,000 diamonds in nature. Argyle rough diamonds are usually large – the final production of this mine rarely weights less than several carats.
Although the 4C parameters (Carat, Cut, Color, and Clarity) are applied to such stones as well as to the rest of the others, the company also developed a separate system for evaluating argyle diamonds. The shade scale is divided into 4 positions:
Besides, there is also a classification by the intensity level. This ranges from 1 – Very Intense, to 9 – Medium Light (pink champagne diamonds only go until 3).
These is the basic knowledge needed about Argyle diamonds:
Natural rough pink diamonds are extremely rare. Therefore, just like any other colored diamonds, pink diamonds’ value does not depend on any price list.
Evaluation of a diamond is made by its carat weight, cut quality, transparency, and color. While colorless diamond’s price depends on its transparency, the cost of Argyle is rising with its color intense.
Uniformity and color saturation are essential for colored diamonds. That is why colored diamonds often have a composite name of dominant and secondary shades – like Brown Pink or Orangey Pink. The strongest hue of the diamond is called vivid – it is the rarest and the most valuable type of argyle diamonds.
Buying a pink diamond is not easy, even if you are willing to shell out a considerable amount for gems. You can buy it only at an auction or at the diamond exchange (note that a limited number of dealers work with fancy diamonds). For an argyle diamond price will start at 80,000$ per carat and can go up to a million dollars per carat. For example, one of the rarest pink diamonds in the world was sold at an auction for a record 46 million.
Color diamonds are scarce yet incredibly popular, especially among those who are used to stand out from the crowd and marvel by their choices. Also, many romantic brides dream of owning an argyle diamond engagement ring. It is so because of this diamond is not only a fashion trend but also a good investment.
By the way, Argyle diamonds can perfectly fit white and yellow gold bands. Similarly, you can choose any ring design up to your taste. It can be a classic engagement ring with a single diamond secured by six small spots or asymmetric stone with some small surrounding diamonds.
Pink diamonds look also amazing in different cuts – no matter if it’s oval or round, cushion or asscher, pear or marquise.
