I Think I May Have a New Favorite Color

Allow me to preface this post with the declaration that pink… is not my favorite color. I have bright red hair that clashes horrifically with it, so even though I think it’s beautiful by itself, or on other people, our VP wears pink all the time and she looks great in it, darn her Italian ancestry. Anyways, fashionably and color coordinatingly (is that a word?) speaking, pink and I just don’t get along that well. But, and this is a big but, all of that being said… I would change my whole fashion credo and swathe myself head to toe in bubbleicious goodness, clashing hair be darned, if I could wear this on my finger. Seriously. 

Photo courtesy of Rio Tinto

And what is this, this gorgeous cotton candy, gumdrop of a gem? It just so happens to be a 12.76 carat pink diamond that was recently unearthed at the Argyle mine in Australia. It also has the distinction of being the largest pink diamond ever found in Australia, that’s right, in the whole country, ever. “A diamond of this caliber is unprecedented – it has taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this stone, and we may never see one like this again,” said Josephine Johnson, Argyle Pink Diamonds Manager in a statement.  And that’s saying something as the Argyle mine is known to produce 90% or more of the world’s supply of pink diamonds. They’re somewhat an expert on the field you might say. 

Christened, Argyle Pink Jubilee, the record breaking stone will be subjected to two months of assessment and planning after which it will take 10 days to fashion the rough stone into its final shape. Any guesses as to what that might be? I’m hoping for a chunky cushion shape. That would be gorgeous! But the next question to be asked is, what’s it worth and can I buy it?

Well the answer is we’re not sure, and you may be able to buy it but I certainly cannot. The diamond’s projected value when it sells at the Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender later this year is at least US $1.07 million. However there are a lot of variables in the price not least of which is that we have no idea how what the finished stone will look like. Head of Sotheby’s Asia department of jewelry Chin Yeow Quek explains, “It’s hard to judge a stone in the rough. It really depends on how large the rock will be polished down to” Rough diamonds tend to lose at least 50% of their total weight during the polishing process. “It also depends on the [intensity of] color and clarity, adds Quek.

So we’re not sure what the stone will look like, or what it will eventually sell for, but we do have a benchmark stone against which we can make a good guess. In November 2010 a 24.78 carat fancy intense pink diamond was sold by Sotheby’s in Geneva for more than $46 million setting the world auction record for any diamond and jewel at US $1.86 million per carat. There is an indescribable allure to pink diamonds, there are considered one of the most valuable types and are usually found only in museums, fine auction houses and on the hands of royalty, and of course on the finger of Mariah Carey who thinks she’s royalty so it all works out. Hey, if I had her voice and her money I’d think I was hot stuff too.

So let’s play a little game and guess what the final shape, weight, and value will be. I’ll go first, of course because I started this whole exercise. My guess is cushion cut, 5.38 carats and 1.8 million dollars.