Canada Stock Journal: Red Diamonds

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.

The Supreme Purple Star. There is very little known about this diamond. The uniquely coloured stone came to the world’s attention when it surfaced in London in 2002. When the owner took it to an appraiser in London, he was not aware of its rarity. The colour of the diamond changes as it is rotated. It goes from a deep purple to a vivid purplish red making it a diamond unlike any seen before.

It is unknown what has become of the diamond.

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Rio Tinto’s 2016 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender has been launched during a world exclusive preview in Copenhagen against the backdrop of a rare Argyle pink diamond jewellery exhibition. The 2016 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender includes 63 pink, red and violet diamonds and represents the finest of a year’s production from Rio Tinto’s Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia.

The Argyle Violet

The 2016 Tender is named the “Chroma Collection” and 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 shaped violet diamond, is the dazzling centrepiece of the 2016 Argyle Pink Diamonds 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.