STYLE Edit: The last Argyle pink diamonds, to be auctioned off in a historic invite-only event as Rio Tinto’s mine in Western Australia closes forever

Aug 30 , 2021

Last of their kind: a selection of pink diamonds from the final annual Argyle Pink Diamond Tender, now up for auction. Photos: Argyle Pink Diamond

Strong demand from Asia is expected at the 2021 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, entitled Journey Beyond, including the Once in a Blue Moon sale of blue diamonds

‘The Argyle Pink Diamond will emerge as the new Fabergé egg,’ says jewellery historian Vivienne Becker; the mine was the source of most of the world’s pink diamonds

Deep in the remote reaches of Western Australia, the world-famous Argyle diamond mine sits silent. Since operation officially started under owner Rio Tinto in 1983, the mine has been the world’s greatest source of rare pink, red, blue and violet diamonds, accounting for some 90 per cent of the world’s pink diamonds. For that reason, its annual invitation-only Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender has been a mainstay on the international diamond calendar since the first crop of gems were offered for sale in 1984.

But diamonds are an intrinsically finite resource and with the Argyle mine closing on November 3, 2020, the 2021 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender is to be the final collection harvested from the mine. It is, to put it mildly, going to be a historic auction.

The unique tones that make up the last-ever Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender.

The 2021 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, entitled Journey Beyond, pays homage to the wondrous range of coloured diamonds that the mine has brought to light. Not only is the tender particularly large – with more than 70 GIA (Gemological Institute of America) graded diamonds totalling 81.63 carats – but the gems are also particularly exceptional, with more than 60 per cent of them weighing over one carat.

They also represent the incredible range of colours that the Argyle mine offers: 38 of them graded pink by the GIA, 23 purplish pink, two purple-pink, two fancy red and five orangey pink.

Lot 1, Argyle Eclipse, a 3.47 carat, fancy intense pink radiant diamond – one of the showpiece pink diamonds from the 2021, and last, collection from the Argyle mine.

The lot is headlined by the stunning Argyle Eclipse, a 3.47 carat radiant shaped fancy intense pink diamond, the largest of its colour grade to ever be offered at the tender.

The rarity of gems from the Argyle mine cannot be overstated. To put things in context, all of the polished diamonds ever sold at the Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender in its 38 years total approximately 1,900 carats – or 380 grams. If you were to gather them all together, you would barely fill two champagne glasses. And of all the diamonds sold, only three per cent have been classified as red diamonds and two per cent as blue and violet diamonds.

From left, Sinead Kaufman, chief executive, and Michelle Sherring, manager, sales and business development, of Rio Tinto Diamonds, holding a piece of history: stones from the 2021 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender.