Details of Rio Tinto’s “Beyond Rare” Tender: Very Rare Lots: Argyle Pinks, Reds, & Violets, plus Two Large and Important Diavik’s – a Yellow and a Colorless!
The 2024 Beyond Rare Tender
Rio Tinto Press Release –
Gary Roskin –
Roskin Gem News Report –
Rio Tinto launches its 2024 Beyond Rare Tender with a special collection of rare pink, red, violet and yellow diamonds. This is the second in its Art Series offering, showcasing 48 lots of extraordinarily rare masterpieces of nature. Titled “Colour Awakened,” this collection is headlined by seven “Old Masters*, notable historic diamonds from the Argyle Diamond Mine that operated from 1983 to 2020.”
*The “Old Masters” comprise seven round brilliant cut, pink and red diamonds, ranging in size from 0.60 carats to 2.63 carats” The large round is a modified round brilliant, as you may be able to see in its close-up image (see images below). “All unearthed from the mine over a decade ago – in one case, as far back as 1987 – each diamond has been carefully retrieved from private vaults and handpicked for inclusion in this year’s tender.” [We believe that the red diamond on the far left, is from the 2013 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, graded Fancy Red, P2 (I2), weighing 0.58 carats.]
Modified step cuts on the crown, with modified brilliant cuts on the pavilion, all with the intentions of intensifying the inherent body color of the diamond.
Recutting Argyle deep pinks to create red is a well-known play.
We’re not exactly sure what the objective was with this gem, because we are unfamiliar with what they recut.
However, we are fairly certain that this facet arrangement was not what Argyle presented at a previous Tender.
In addition to the “Old Masters,” the Art Series 02 includes legacy inventory of pink, red and violet diamonds from the Argyle Diamond Mine, together with a white and a yellow diamond from Rio Tinto’s Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
In total there are 76 diamonds, weighing 39.44 carats, comprising:
- Seven “Old Masters,” including one Fancy Red diamond;
- 32 exquisite single lots of pink and violet diamonds, including one Fancy Purplish Red diamond; and
- A rarified offering of nine carefully curated diamond sets, two sets including a 2.47ct Fancy Intense Yellow diamond and a 4.04ct D colour diamond respectively, each from Rio Tinto’s Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada.
COLOR GRADING FANCIES
You may notice that when describing color with two different hues, the hue listed first is usually given the suffix -ish and is considered to be the weaker of the two; e.g. Violetish-Gray – more gray.
When neither hue has the suffix -ish added, then the diamond is considered to have an equal amount of each hue; e.g. Violet-Gray – an equal amount of both violet and gray.
One might easily rationalize that the difference between a Violet-Gray color call and a Gray-Violet color call stems from diamond graders agreeing that – for the most part – the diamond has “an equal amount” of both color hues, but maybe one hue does have a slight edge. Therefore, a color grade of Gray-Violet might be hinting that there is more Violet than Gray. Or maybe not.
We try not to rationalize too much when it comes to how the professional diamond grading labs offer their opinion.
ARGYLE PINK DIAMOND TENDERS
The Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia has been closed now for a few years, but when the mine was operating, there were annual silent bid auctions called Argyle Pink Diamond Tenders, where the best of the best found that year were offered for sale to an invitation-only list of guests.
While at JCK Magazine as their Senior Gemstone Editor, and knowing a few VIP members of the trade with invitations who graciously invited me to join them, we were able to cover the details of many of these rare viewings for two decades, capturing images and gemological details of the most rare and beautiful fancy pink diamonds ever known.
Since the mine’s closing in 2020, Rio Tinto, parent mining company of Argyle, has been bringing to its Beyond Rare silent bid auction tenders, fancy pinks, violets, and reds, that, for whatever reason, were never included in past tenders.
Maybe they were considered too small, or too low in clarity, at the time, or maybe they were thinking ahead, and saving them for a later date – like today.
This year’s Beyond Rare Tender, we see included a group of seven diamonds labeled “Seven Old Masters.” We believe that these diamonds were once part of previous Argyle Pink Diamond Tenders. One of these rare diamonds, the Fancy Red, we believe came from one of those auctions.
including one Argyle Fancy Gray-Violet, one Argyle Fancy Dark Gray-Violet
and one 4.04 cts. Diavik D-Colour pear shape brilliant.
Here’s the List for the 2024 Beyond Rare Tender:
By the numbers…
30 or so Fancy Vivids
a Fancy Red
a Fancy Purplish-Red
3 Gray-Violets (& other Grays/Violets)
3+ Fancy Deep Pinks
a 4.04 cts. D-color Type IIa
a 2.47 cts. Fancy Intense Yellow
… as well as several matched pairs, and a few suites as well.
SUITES
In amongst the singles and suites, we see a quarter carat Fancy Dark Gray-Violet pear shape, a third-of-a-carat Fancy Gray-Violet marquise, and a suite of round brilliant thirds, consisting of a Fancy Intense Purplish-Pink, a Fancy Vivid Purplish-Pink, and a Fancy Dark Violet-Gray.
Diavik Lots
Lot 40 in the 2024 Beyond Rare Tender features a set of three pear shaped diamonds, including one Argyle Fancy Gray-Violet, one Argyle Fancy Dark Gray-Violet and one 4.04 cts. Diavik D-Colour pear shape brilliant.
Lot 41 features a set of two matched Fancy Intense Purplish-Pink ovals and one 2.47 cts. Diavik Fancy Intense Yellow cushion cut.
First Silent Bids
In London at the launch of this invitation-only event, Sinead Kaufman, Chief Executive of Rio Tinto Minerals, said “No other mining company in the world has custody of such a kaleidoscope of coloured diamonds. Four years on from the closure of the Argyle mine, our Beyond Rare Tender platform is a testimony to the enduring prestige of the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand, the quality of production from our Diavik mine, and the ongoing demand for highly collectible natural diamonds.”
SHOWING AND FINAL BID DATE
The 48 lots are being showcased in London, Australia, Singapore and Belgium, with final bids closing on November 18, 2024.
Patrick Coppens, General Manager of Sales and Marketing for Rio Tinto’s Diamonds business, said “Each diamond in the Art Series 02 is a beautiful story of esteemed provenance, careful custody and transformation into rare works of art. This curated collection of exceptional gems will be in strong demand by the world’s finest jewellers, collectors and diamond connoisseurs.”
Special thanks to Stephen C. Hofer, author of Collecting and Classifying Fancy Colour Diamonds for his expertise.
Tap here to visit Rio Tinto and the famous Argyle collection!
