How rare are Argyle pink diamonds?

Posted on March 25, 2021 (November 12, 2021)

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, right? Well, let’s have a look at the Argyle pink diamond. Do you actually know how rare Argyle pink diamonds are?

Of course, you will soon find out. But we want to really educate you in Argyle diamonds, specifically the pink diamond, so if you do decide to make a purchase of a piece with a beautiful pink diamond, you know all the ins and outs!

We will give you a brief history of the Argyle Mine and the diamond, the rarity of the diamond and rough prices and how they are set to make stunning pieces of jewellery.

We also thought it would be fun to share with you some fun facts on the pink diamond, they have a very interesting history!

History of the Argyle Mine and pink diamonds

The name Argyle is, in fact, the name of the mine where 90% of pink diamonds are produced. The Argyle Diamond Mine (owned by Rio Tinto) sits on the traditional country of the Miriuwung, Gidja, Malgnin and Wularr people in the remote East Kimberley region of Western Australia.

This mine is one of the largest suppliers for coloured diamonds, which includes white, champagne, blue, cognac, violet, red and the rare pink diamond that we will discuss! The mine was opened in 1983 and is set to close at the end of 2020. Since it began, they have produced more than 824 million carats of rough diamonds.

Fun fact on the Argyle Mine, less than 1% of the diamonds mined are actually the pink diamond, so you know how rare these are! On average, around 4,000 carats of the pink diamond is produced per year.

Pink diamonds have also been found in India, South Africa, Canada, Russia and Brazil.

Although pink diamonds have not been mined for a long time, they are expected to be around 1.6 billion years old, which adds to the rarity of the diamonds.

Rarity and Prices

As you can now imagine, pink diamonds are rare. As Argyle Mine produces the most amount of pink diamonds in the world, and their output is less than 1%, it really does paint a picture of how rare these diamonds are.

According to some experts, it is believed that only another 500 quality pink diamonds are left undiscovered. So, if they are so rare, what is the estimated cost of a pink diamond? Well to put it into perspective, they can cost up to 20 times more than a white diamond. But as mentioned by the Argyle Mine, a one-carat pink diamond can be priced anywhere from $100,000 to over $1million!

Of course, like any diamond, the price will depend on a few factors including colour, cut, clarity, intensity, shade of the colour and shape. For a pink diamond, the secondary colour also plays a role in the price, if the colour is brown tinted it might make the pink gem more affordable than if it had a purple tone to it. The more intense the colour, the higher the price.

Argyle pink diamonds are also priced a lot higher because of their colour and quality.

Diamond settings and quality

What if you were looking to purchase an Argyle pink diamond? Well although the 4Cs do apply to the price and quality of the diamond (colour, clarity, cut and carat), the Argyle diamonds also have a grading system to help identify the price/quality based on the colours.

These are broken down into four different colour categories:

• PP (Purple Pink)
• P (Pink)
• PR (Pink Rose)
• PC (Pink Champagne)

Once the colour is graded, so is the intensity of the colour, which ranges from 1 (the highest) to 9 (the lowest).

If you were looking to make an engagement ring from an Argyle pink diamond, you might want to consider the following:

• Halo Setting (this can enhance the diamond by adding more carat weight and size to the ring style)
• Tension Setting (this will allow the diamond to stand on its own and the use of pressure helps to secure the diamond)
• Pave Setting (this is made up of smaller stones within the band, the pave highlights the stone with a unique style around the diamond)
• Trilogy setting (this is made up of three stones whereas the central stone can be highlighted by accentuating side stones varying in shapes, such as trilliants, baguettes, tapering baguettes, pear-shapes and many more)

What type of style would you choose using Argyle pink diamonds?

Fun facts about pink diamonds

When it comes to the rare diamonds, of course, there are loads of facts that set them apart from the other types of diamonds.

We wanted to share a few with you about the pink diamond:

• The Argyle pink diamonds are a little more complicated in structure and can take three to four times longer to polish
• The colour of the diamond is believed to come for a defect known as “plastic deformation” where the diamond is forced into the Earth’s surface where it is altered, causing deformation and the pink colour
• The way a pink diamond is mined at Argyle Mine is from a volcanic lamproite pipe (usually diamonds are mined from a kimberlite pipe)
• Not all pink diamonds are created equal (as mentioned above, each colour classes it as a certain type of rarity)
• The world’s most expensive gemstone ever sold at auction was the 59.6-carat Fancy Vivid Pink diamond named the Pink Star. It was bought by Isaac Wolf for around $83.2 million when the payment didn’t go through, the auction house had to buy the diamond for $60 million as they guaranteed that amount to the original seller

The pink diamond has a very colourful and popular history.

Final thoughts

The pink diamond is a rare gemstone, and what makes it so special is, most of them are mined in our own backyard (Australia).

The Argyle Mine supplies most the pink diamonds to the world, which makes our land so unique. As you now know, the Argyle pink diamond is very rare and can be quite an investment. But with the mine in Australia closing at the end of 2020, it makes these diamonds so much rarer to obtain!

If you want to talk diamonds, talk to us at Kalfin. With over 35 years of experience, we understand the needs of our clients and work closely to turn their dreams into reality.

Specialising in custom-made jewellery ranging from engagement rings and wedding rings, diamond jewellery and loose diamonds to coloured gemstones, our personal service and impeccable workmanship is driven by our passion for creativity.