Pink diamonds
basic facts about pink diamonds
The argyle mine in Australia produces 90% of the world’s natural fancycolored pink diamonds, but less than 1 % of the diamond production of this mine is pink.
Similar to red diamonds, pink diamonds get their color from a structural defect called ‘plastic deformation’ This is when the rough diamond’s crystal structure becomes twisted under extreme heat and pressure simultaneously – not unlike compressing a spring. When this happens certain wavelengths within the spectrum are absorbed and consequently the color we perceive is pink or more extreme into the red.
famous pink diamonds
As part of the Iranian crown jewels The Dareya e Noor now is one of the most famous and largest pink diamonds in the world. Translated it means ‘An ocean of light’ and it is 182 ct pale pink diamond which was found in one of the Golconda mines in India centuries ago. A team of gemmologists who examined the stone in 1965 think that it was originally part of a larger stone, which was cut by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 1642. The other part would be the Noor-ul-Ain and is 60 ct diamond in a persian tiara.
The Graff pink also has an extraordinary story to it. It was bought by Laurence Graff in november 2010 as a fancy intense pink emerald cut weighing 24,78 carats. But for mr. Graff this was not enough, so he took an amazing risk of repolishing it to gain some color. He succeeded and the outcome was a fancy vivid pink of 23,88 carats, a lot more valuable.
Jennifer Lopez received a 6,10 carat pink diamond engagement ring from Ben Affleck when they were dating in 2002. Ben paid $ 1.2 million for it and got the ring back after they broke up 2 years later.
Investing in pink diamonds
Most pink diamonds will have an other hue besides pink which will make the diamond less valuable. But there is one exception for diamonds that have purple as a secondary color. Because purple is more expensive than pink, it will acually upgrade it and the diamond will be more expensive. Pink diamonds are exceedingly rare. Because the majority is found in the Argyle mines in Australia, which is scheduled to close in 2018, supply will deminish while demand will increase.
