The Argyle pink diamond is beyond rare. It is the one of the rarest diamonds in the world.
The deeper the pink color is, the more rare and valuable is the pink diamond. Pink diamonds, especially Argyle diamonds, are among the most desirable diamonds, even within the niche of colored diamonds. The price per carat of a natural fancy pink diamond can even cost over a million dollars. In fact, on the 17th of November 2010, a record for the most precious pink diamond was broken. A British Billionaire paid approx $47 Million Dollars for a 24.78 carats pink diamond (27.7 Million Pounds).
Even though there are ways to enhance the color and treat a diamond; a naturally colored diamond is the most sought.
For many years, white diamonds (colorless diamonds) considered to be the most beautiful diamonds, until the discovery of the Argyle diamond mine announcing the arrival of the Argyle pink diamonds. Never before has a pink diamond displayed such an intense shade of color. These rare diamonds known as Argyle Diamonds usually bare an inscription stating their origin.
At the 1989 Christie's auction in New York a 3.14 carat Argyle pink diamond sold for $1,510,000.
The Argyle pink diamond comes in shades ranging from delicate pastel rose to robust raspberry and full-blooded purple-reds. Due to the rarity of their color, the price per carat for the argyle pink diamond is determined mainly by the intensity of their color (and less by the clarity etc.). The supply of natural fancy pink diamonds in the world is extremely low. In fact, almost all of the world’s pink diamonds come from one mine in Western Australia - The Argyle Diamond Mine. Below is a sample of an Argyle Diamond from the Peled Diamonds Argyle Collection:
The grading of pink diamonds, and colored diamonds in general, is a little different than grading other diamonds. When grading fancy colored diamonds you must also take their color and the color's intensity into consideration. There can be a vast difference in price per carat between two similar diamonds with a slight difference in color - for example a brown pink diamond is much more expensive than a pink brown diamond. A Brown Pink diamond is a pink diamond with a secondary brown hue and a pink brown diamond is exactly the opposite. This is done by considering factors such as the hue, tone, and saturation of the color. At the end, the price per carat is mainly determined by the color of the diamond and its intensity.
The Argyle Diamond Mine is a located in the East Kimberly region in the remote north of Western Australia. Argyle is the largest diamond producer in the world by volume, although due to the low proportion of gem-quality diamonds, it is not the leader by value. It is the only known significant source of pink diamonds. The argyle mine produces over 90% of the world's supply of pink diamonds. It additionally provides a large proportion of other naturally colored diamonds, including champagne, cognac and rare blue diamonds. Argyle is currently transitioning from an open pit mine to an underground mine.