| Weight | 8.01 carats (1.602 g) |
|---|---|
| Color | light pink |
| Cut | rough |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Mine of origin | Argyle diamond mine |
| Discovered | August 2011 [1] |
| Cut by | Richard How Kim Kam |
| Original owner | Rio Tinto Group |
| Owner | Museum Victoria |
The Argyle Pink Jubilee is a rough pink diamond and the largest rough pink diamond unearthed in Australia. It was found at the Rio Tinto Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia. [2] [3]
Large stones like the Jubilee typically go to museums or end up at high-profile auction houses like Christie's. Christie's has only auctioned 18 polished pink diamonds larger than 10 carats in its 244-year history. [4] The Jubilee was expected to tour internationally before sold at an invitation-only tender. [4]
Originally weighing 12.76 carats (2.552 g), the light pink diamond started its cut in Perth in February 2012 [3] by Richard How Kim Kam. [5] While being cut, the diamond was found to have "one major internal fault line that could not be overcome." [6] Only roughly formed and polished, and down to 8.01 carats (1.602 g), the diamond was donated to the Melbourne Museum. [7]
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, but diamond is metastable and converts to it at a negligible rate under those conditions. Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are used in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth.
The Golden Jubilee Diamond, a 545.67 carat brown diamond, is the largest cut and faceted diamond in the world. It outweighs the Cullinan I by 15.37 carats. The Golden Jubilee Diamond was discovered in 1985 at the Premier Mine, which is also the origin of the Cullinan diamond (1905) and other notables such as the Taylor–Burton (1966) and the Centenary (1986). Cullinan I, also known as the Great Star of Africa, had held the title of the largest cut and faceted diamond since 1908.
The Argyle Diamond Mine was a diamond mine located in the East Kimberley region in the remote north of Western Australia. Argyle was at times the largest diamond producer in the world by volume, although the proportion of gem-quality diamonds was low. It was the only known significant source of pink and red diamonds, and additionally provided a large proportion of other naturally coloured diamonds, including champagne, cognac and rare blue diamonds.
The Diavik Diamond Mine is a diamond mine in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, about 300 km (190 mi) northeast of Yellowknife.
The Pink Star, formerly known as the Steinmetz Pink, is a diamond weighing 59.60 carats, rated in color as Fancy Vivid Pink by the Gemological Institute of America. The Pink Star was mined by De Beers in 1999 in South Africa, and weighed 132.5 carats in the rough. The Pink Star is the largest known diamond having been rated Vivid Pink. As a result of this exceptional rarity, the Beny Steinmetz Group called Steinmetz Diamonds took a cautious 20 months to cut the Pink. It was unveiled in Monaco on 29 May 2003 in a public ceremony.
The Merlin diamond mine is one of only three diamond mines in Australia. The mine is located in the Northern Territory of Australia, about 80 kilometres south of Borroloola. The mine operated for a period of about three years from 2000 to mid-2003, during which time it produced about 500,000 carats (100 kg) of high quality diamonds.
The Murowa diamond mine is a diamond mine located in Mazvihwa, south central Zimbabwe, about 40 kilometres from the asbestos mining town of Zvishavane in the Midlands province. The mine is majority owned and operated by the Rio Tinto Group, which also owns the Argyle diamond mine in Australia and part of the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada. The mine is a combination of open pit and underground construction; current estimates put construction costs at $61 million USD and mine reserves are 19 million tonnes of ore, with an ore grade of 0.9 carats (180 mg) per tonne.
The Jubilee Diamond, originally known as the Reitz Diamond is a colourless, cushion-shaped diamond weighing 245.35 carats, making it the sixth largest diamond in the world. It was originally named after Francis William Reitz, the then president of the Orange Free State where the stone was discovered, before being renamed to honour the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1897.
The Premier Mine is an underground diamond mine owned by Petra Diamonds in the town of Cullinan, 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of Pretoria, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Established in 1902, it was renamed the Cullinan Diamond Mine in November 2003 in celebration of its centenary. The mine is a carrot-shaped volcanic pipe and has a surface area of 32 hectares. The mine rose to prominence in 1905, when the Cullinan Diamond – the largest rough diamond of gem quality ever found – was discovered there.
Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchange for 3,800 carats of small diamonds.
Diamonds were largely inaccessible to investors until the recent advent of regulated commodities, due to a lack of price discovery and transparency. The characteristics of individual diamonds, especially the carat weight, color and clarity, have significant impact on values, but transactions were always private. With the standardized commodity as an underlying asset, several market traded financial instruments have been announced.
Petra Diamonds Ltd is a diamond mining group headquartered in Jersey. Petra own one of the world's most productive mines historically, the Cullinan Diamond Mine is famed for having produced the world's largest rough and polished diamond. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Brown diamonds are the most common color variety of natural diamonds. In most mines, brown diamonds account for 15% of production. The brown color makes them less attractive to some people as gemstones, and most are used for industrial purposes. However, improved marketing programs, especially in Australia and the United States, have resulted in brown diamonds becoming valued as gemstones and even referred to as chocolate diamonds.
Graff is a British multinational jeweller based in London. It was founded by British jeweller Laurence Graff in 1960. A vertically integrated company, Graff operations comprise the design, manufacture and retail distribution of jewellery and watches.
The Princie Diamond is an approximately 34.65 carat cushion-cut fancy intense pink diamond discovered 300 years ago in the Golconda mines. Christie's say that the Princie Diamond is believed to be the fourth largest pink diamond in the world, after the Daria-i-Noor, the Noor-ol-Ain - which are both part of the Iranian Crown Jewels; both were cut, according to experts, from one single c. 242 carat pink diamond, - and the Pink Star, a diamond weighing 59.60 carats.
Pink diamond is a type of diamond that has pink color. The source of their pink color is greatly debated in the gemological world but it is most commonly attributed to plastic deformation that these diamonds undergo during their formation.
A red diamond is a diamond which displays red colour and exhibits the same mineral properties as colourless diamonds. Red diamonds are commonly known as the most expensive and the rarest diamond colour in the world, even more so than pink or blue diamonds, as very few red diamonds have been found. Red diamonds, just like pink diamonds, are greatly debated as to the source of their colour, but the gemological community most commonly attributes both colours to gliding atoms in the diamond's structure as it undergoes enormous pressure during its formation. Red diamonds are among the 12 colours of fancy colour diamonds, and have the most expensive price per carat. They will typically run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per carat range. Since they are the rarest colour, it is difficult to find them in large sizes, and they are mostly found in sizes less than 1 carat. Red diamonds only exist with one colour intensity, Fancy, although their clarities can range from Flawless to Included, just like white diamonds. The largest and most flawless red diamond is the 5.11 carat Fancy Red Moussaieff Red Diamond, which has internally flawless clarity.
The Rock is the world's largest white diamond ever auctioned. It is a nearly colorless 228.31 carat pear-shaped diamond mined in South Africa c. 2000. The diamond is described as larger than a golf ball, and it was auctioned in 2022 for 21.9 million USD.
