‘Flawless’ purple-pink diamond fetches record $29.3M at auction

Megan C. Hills, CNN + Oscar Holland, CNN A 15.81-carat gem, dubbed “The Sakura,” fetched $29.3 million in Hong Kong to become the most expensive purple-pink diamond ever to sell at auction. Named after the Japanese word for cherry blossom, it is the largest diamond of its kind to go under the hammer, according to […]
Tender Aims to Develop Secondary Market for Argyle Pinks

By Rob Bates A collection of rare Argyle pink diamonds will be sold in a public tender in June, in what may be a test of whether there’s a secondary market for the gems. Next month, Yourdiamonds.com, an Australian diamond technology startup, will offer for sale at least 10 pink gems from the Argyle mine. […]
Red End: Argyle Unveils Its Final Pink Tender

By Rob Bates Rio Tinto has lifted the curtains on its final Argyle Pink Diamond Tender, which features a characteristically showstopping collection of pink, red, and blue diamonds from the now-shuttered Australian mine. This 38th, and last, tender will comprise 70 diamonds weighing 81.63 cts. The year’s biggest “hero” stone is the 3.47 ct. Argyle […]
How Argyle Changed The Diamond Industry

By Rob Bates Last year, Australia’s Argyle diamond mine closed after 37 years of operation. This month, Melbourne University Publishing released Argyle: The Impossible Story of Australian Diamonds, a comprehensive history of the mine by Stuart Kells. Here, Kells (pictured), a writer and adjunct professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, talks with JCK […]