Rare 2ct red diamond Argyle Everglow up for auction

[mochiko42]

If you click through to the link there's a video.

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/ec...ows-rare-211-carat-red-diamond-highly-coveted

Prospective buyers in Hong Kong are preparing to be dazzled by a first glimpse of one of the largest and “most coveted” red diamonds ever discovered.

The Argyle Everglow is a 2.11 carat red diamond mined by industry giant Rio Tinto from the Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia – the world’s largest source of pink diamonds.

Red is considered to be the rarest diamond colour as less than one carat of such stones are extracted from the mine each year.

 

[SimoneDi]

Such a beautiful and rare diamond!

 

[WinkHPD]

In the article it refers to the Argyle mine closing in 2021, although other sources say it could close as soon as 2018 due to the falling income from the mine due to the low gem quality of most of the diamonds found there.

I find the history of the Argyle mine to be fascinating. Perhaps Paul Slegers could talk more about the effect on the rough trade that the Argyle mine had, since Argyle was one of the first big mines to break from DeBeers as they did not think they were getting a fair price for their rough. Back then this was a BIG DEAL as DeBeers controlled such a huge percentage of the diamond rough market. Many "experts" were predicting they would soon crawl back to the fold.

As a retail jeweler back in the early 1980's I loved following the development of the mine and was disappointed in the largely brownish diamonds that were produced. I have to admit that I am impressed with their long marketing campaign to make champagne and chocolate diamonds viable, although I still do not much care for them with a few rare exceptions when the diamonds are actually beautiful.

My thought on reading of the soon to come closing of the Argyle mine is that if you think the reds are expensive now, just wait until the mine is closed. In fifty years, when one of these hits the markets the bidding will be frenzied.

Wink

 

[OoohShiny]

1ct a year? That is a lot of earth to dig through to get 1ct... lol

Interesting that they are formed through 'plastic deformation' - I wonder if this is something that could be replicated in a lab.

 

[valeria101]

I still do not much care for them with a few rare exceptions when the diamonds are actually beautiful.

Just two - even on Pricescope !

May I ask if the colour is mainly from Argyle ? When I start wondering about the range of colour (now), the first obvious finding is that the browns are not as common as the price implies & I have not seen much at all.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Just two - even on Pricescope !

May I ask if the colour is mainly from Argyle ? When I start wondering about the range of colour (now), the first obvious finding is that the browns are not as common as the price implies & I have not seen much at all.

Hi Valeria- do you mean the Red color?
I believe that Pink of very deep color have also been mined in Brazil.
It's interesting that sometimes GIA and Argyle do not agree.
We once had a diamond that Argyle graded "red" while GIA called it "Deep Pink" iirc

Great point about brown diamonds, rarity, and price. The low price is based on consumer perception, as opposed to rarity.....

 

[WinkHPD]

I once sold a coffee colored diamond that was incredibly beautiful. I bought it in 1977 or 78 as part of a ten carat parcel that I bought for $2,000 per carat. I sold it to my father in a nice Coast Diamonds piece in 1979 or 80. He gifted it to my mom, and when she died it went to my sister. (With my prior blessing and approval, mom asked if I wanted it assigned to my lovely lady.)

It was before the Argyle mine opened and I wish the browns of the Argyle had been this beautiful, then I would have been a strong fan.

Wink

 

[Rockdiamond]

We've seen some amazing brown diamonds coming out of Argyle Wink.....some have modifying colors, like Orange, and or yellow.....some are pure "coffee colored" - just don't call them Chocolate

An interesting note about the brown diamonds- they present unique challenges to cutters because they possess a different consistency as compared to other colors

 

[valeria101]

@Rockdiamond

I meant to ask if most browns are Australian.

Thanks for the note on rarity ...

I never knew what to make of the diamonds in my colours (KWIM) - until today, perhaps !

The range colours ending in ' - brown' on GIA paper seems indescribable - too varied. Your mention of 'deep pink' here, brings to mind some impossibly elegant deep pink-ish & purpl-ish browns.

 

[valeria101]

@Wink - I'd say 'coffee' goes with blue ,-) One shot would prove / disprove the point !

 

[valeria101]

An interesting note about the brown diamonds- they present unique challenges to cutters because they possess a different consistency as compared to other colors

The one Argyle I remember is a Purple-Brown with cross-hatch grain marked as if drawn ...

 

[foxinsox]

An interesting note about the brown diamonds- they present unique challenges to cutters because they possess a different consistency as compared to other colors

What do you mean about the consistency? This is fascinating. I didn't realise they could be different.. although I recall a recent post on gemconcepts' IG showing the differences in surface skin between a Russian and Canadian octahedron crystals.

 

[diagem]

Argyle rough can be incredibly complicated to cut to specific plans. Full of material surprises throughout the process. In general you don't part by sawing an Argyle rough causing extremely low yields in general, the breakage % is significant. Material complications can prolong the cutting process a few time folds vs a regular colorless/near colorless material. In general almost every natural color caries it's own shtick during the cutting process. A whole book could be written about the subject.

 

[Rockdiamond]

What do you mean about the consistency? This is fascinating. I didn't realise they could be different.. although I recall a recent post on gemconcepts' IG showing the differences in surface skin between a Russian and Canadian octahedron crystals.

Sorry for the slow reply and thank for chiming in Yoram!!
To simplify Yoram's detailed explanation, the brown stones are more brittle during cutting.
We've never noticed any deficiencies in durability in polished brown diamonds, but remember, cutting introduces incredible stresses and heat-. There've been many cases of stones shattering on the wheel.
One stone I can think of was perfectly clean till that last moment of polishing, at which point it turned into an I3.
It happened to be a piece of Argyle Brown Rough

 

[foxinsox]

A whole book could be written about the subject.

I would read that book. This stuff is so interesting!

 

[diagem]

Sorry for the slow reply and thank for chiming in Yoram!!
To simplify Yoram's detailed explanation, the brown stones are more brittle during cutting.
We've never noticed any deficiencies in durability in polished brown diamonds, but remember, cutting introduces incredible stresses and heat-. There've been many cases of stones shattering on the wheel.
One stone I can think of was perfectly clean till that last moment of polishing, at which point it turned into an I3.
It happened to be a piece of Argyle Brown Rough

They can be brittle in some spots while unpolisheable on spots near the brittle spots. On one Diamond which we completed not too long ago it took us 2-3 weeks to just polish a table facet while the rest of the stone to completion took another week. Usualy a 3-4 day job.

 

[diagem]

Here you can see a 4 snip of my recent process of cutting an Argyle old-cut Asscher.
For some reason its being attached really small, maybe someone can enlarge for me, thank you in advance.
1) we started with a clean Argyle Rough planned for a specific size and design. As we were opening the table facet a feather developed due to the extremely sensitive Argyle material. please notice the laser mark around the table facet signaling the original planed position for the table.
2) moving on very slowly to try to minimize the feather and hoping it doesnt develop further. a strong heart and an extremely patient & experienced hand is required.
3)starting to cut the crowns in order to minimize the large table facet, it limits the fraction and heat as the surface becomes smaller.
4) In position ready to be faceted, feather minimized to the original design plan.

 

[valeria101]

They can be brittle in some spots while unpolisheable on spots near the brittle spots.

No scanning for such things ?

 

[diagem]

No scanning for such things ?

We do use certain tools like a polariscope to view the amount of the tension and its locations within the material plus you can probably visualize certain irregularities in the rough that will stall the cutting but generally each Argyle has its issues.

 

[valeria101]

Just curious ...

I am very spoiled for lab gear, sure enough, but defects in relatively large crystals are not something I usually think about. Not that I'd mind playing !

 

[valeria101]

1) we started with a clean Argyle Rough planned for a specific size and design. As we were opening the table facet a feather developed due to the extremely sensitive Argyle material. please notice the laser mark around the table facet signaling the original planed position for the table.

May I ask how plans changed from laser cutting to opening the table as it shown ?


[Back of my mind: I am thinking that polishing sought to release stress, in a different way than the lasser would have (but how !?) ... Then, there is some question of orientation - of the stress & the cut, that I wouldn't know how to think about at all ... It seems impossible to predict much of anything !]

 

[lambskin]

Without the successful marketing of brown diamonds would they have been used on an industrial basis? Or used to practice cutting/polishing or new cuts?

 

[diagem]

May I ask how plans changed from laser cutting to opening the table as it shown ?


[Back of my mind: I am thinking that polishing sought to release stress, in a different way than the lasser would have (but how !?) ... Then, there is some question of orientation - of the stress & the cut, that I wouldn't know how to think about at all ... It seems impossible to predict much of anything !]

From laser marking (you mean?). Luckily not too much, we lowered the CH by a percentage and left a small left over fraction of the feather calling it a beautiful SI1. Enlarging the table a bit did justice to the colored material as well. So we managed to save the day but it took a nerve wracking forever!!

 

[diagem]

Without the successful marketing of brown diamonds would they have been used on an industrial basis? Or used to practice cutting/polishing or new cuts?

Why would you say that, yes Rio Tinto marketing was around in the early 80's, Rio Tinto really never had much success with their C1-10 scheme. It was only when a few high end dearing designers that started designing with browns and other included Diamonds as part of their designs. de Grisogono is just one of the early birds. But you mustn't forget that Brown colored Diamonds were considered sought after and beautiful in History as well, there are quite a few documentation of such albeit most were of significant weights.

Besides, brown material is not study/practice material, you need a strong heart and lots of experience to cut them....

 

[Rockdiamond]

Without the successful marketing of brown diamonds would they have been used on an industrial basis? Or used to practice cutting/polishing or new cuts?

We've been selling them for many years, based solely on their appearance.
The marketing, IMO, has not been as successful as the stones- the best of which certainly speak for themselves.
Then we have a particular seller who patented the name, "Chocolate diamonds" about 7 years back
IMO this hinders the overall brown diamond market because the stuff they call "chocolate" is not necessarily the type of stones readers of this forum would love.

 

[OoohShiny]

From laser marking (you mean?).

If a laser will mark a diamond, could you cut a diamond (into a proper shape) using a laser??

 

[diagem]

I am not familiar with their products as I wasn't too keen on their scanners and their software. But they claim they can do it.

http://www.ogisystems.com/solico.html

In order to utilize this system, you need to utilize a competitors https://sarine.com/products/galaxy-1000_sarine/

Otherwise you won't be able to plan accurately rough with internal characteristics and inclusions.

I still believe I need to see where I am driving...

 

[valeria101]

de Grisogono is just one of the early birds

I was in love with the whites before finding out of Grisogono's use of them - this has not changed ...

 

[diagem]

I was in love with the whites before finding out of Grisogono's use of them - this has not changed ...

I remember exactly his use of those heavily colorless/white included Diamonds he would conjunct with million dollar center Gems 20 years ago, Fawaz Gruosi was definitely a wild innovator for those days and still is today.

Not too crazy about his last creation though.... could have blew the roof but played it safe which is not really him.

 

[valeria101]

Not too crazy about his last creation though...

The necklace ? WWW

I don't know ... I would not know what is worth doing given no limits to speak of - perhaps in my field, but not in Fawaz Gruosi's ...

The necklace looks like an unlikely collage of parts for several jewels, in fairly different tastes. In mere fashion, the modus operandi of Noten ... Perhaps I am insulting both !