Fifty five pink diamonds, weighing 47.61 carats in total, are up for grabs in this year’s Rio Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender.
The highlight of the just launched tender is the Argyle Semper Suite – “a rare suite of three matching heart-shaped diamonds” with “a complexity of colour and purity of shape that will excite the passions of diamond connoisseurs and collectors alike”.
Argyle Pink Diamonds manager Josephine Archer said the tender is notable for its collaboration with world renowned fashion illustrator, David Downton, who has captured the beauty of pink diamonds in a number of sketches showcased in the 2011 Tender Catalogue.
“We commissioned David Downton to create the ‘Argyle Muse’, an illustrated woman who personifies the Argyle Pink Diamond values of rarity, beauty and luxury,” said Archer.
“David Downton has illustrated many exceptional women from Cate Blanchett to Elizabeth Taylor, and he has now brought to life the spirit of Argyle Pink Diamonds with elegance and perfection.”
Meanwhile Jean-Marc Lieberherr, general manager of Rio Tinto’s diamond sales andmarketing, said that demand for rare pink diamonds has never been stronger.
“Demand ….at this truly top end of the luxury market is incomparable,” he said.
“Rio Tinto’s Argyle Diamond Mine in WA continues to be the world’s only consistent source of rare pink diamonds, and with each passing year, Argyle pink diamonds become more collectable, highly sought after and valuable.”
This 2011 Tender will be previewed around the world from August through to October.