Rio Tinto Displays Pink Diamond Tender in Tokyo

(IDEX Online News) – The world’s most exclusive diamond sale, the Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, is being previewed in Tokyo for the first time in five years, the firm said.

Argyle Pink Diamonds manager Josephine Johnson said, “We are delighted to be back in Tokyo to showcase the finest red, pink and blue diamonds from the Argyle mine in Western Australia. The Japanese market is very important to us and over the past 20 years has shown, and continues to show, an unerring demand for Argyle pink diamonds.”

Included in the Tokyo preview are three fancy red diamonds. They include a 1.56-carat round gem, the Argyle Phoenix named in honor of the newly commissioned Argyle underground mine.

The 2013 tender collection is also notable for its unique combination of colors and sizes, Rio Tinto said. For the first time in eight years there is a diamond greater than three carats – the 3.02-carat radiant, fancy intense orangy pink diamond, named the Argyle Imperial.

There is also a 0.71-carat blue heart-shaped diamond, the Argyle Celestial, which is expected to be sold with a matching heart-shaped fancy pink diamond from the collection.

Japan remains the largest consumer market for pink diamonds, with the lighter “cherry blossom” shades of pink in strong demand from Japanese jewelry designers, Rio Tinto said. It is also a market for heart shaped diamonds, and the matching pink and blue heart shaped diamonds in the 2013 Tender collection are likely to be strongly contested.

The 2013 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender comprises 64 diamonds, including 58 pink diamonds, three fancy red diamonds and three blue diamonds. All 64 diamonds in this year's collection were cut and polished in Western Australia by Rio Tinto's master craftsmen. Bids for the diamonds close on October 2.