Pink tender on view in New York

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Pink tender on view in New York

October 04, 2007

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Rio Tinto's pink tender breaks records

New York—Sixty-five of the rarest pink diamonds in the world are currently on view under tight security in a posh Manhattan hotel suite, as the 23rd annual Rio Tinto Diamonds Argyle Pink Diamond Tender makes its annual New York stopover.

The collection—which was previously in Hong Kong and Perth, Australia—is in New York City from Oct. 1-12. Attendance to the tender is restricted to approximately 100 key clientele from around the world.

Diamonds included in the tender are extremely rare and valuable, and can fetch more than $400,000 per carat. Robyn Ellison, communications manager for Rio Tinto Diamonds, said the diamonds must be at least half a carat in size and in the upper-end of the fancy-intense colors to be considered.

Of the average 30 million carats of rough diamonds produced at the Argyle mine in Western Australia each year, only about 8,000 to 10,000 carats of polished pink diamonds are produced—primarily in melee sizes—with only a small fraction of the finest making it to the tender.

Gavin Pearce, senior sales executive for Argyle Diamonds, said the collection will become even more rare in the years to come. The mine will transition to an underground operation after 2008, cutting production by half, and is expected to run out completely by 2018.

He says this year's stones are among the mot vivid and deep in terms of color.

"I expect it to be extremely strong this year," Pearce said of the tender.

Pink diamonds marked for cutting and polishing.

Among the stones available this year are four extremely rare purplish-red stones, including a 1.74-carat oval-shaped fancy purplish red.

Pearce said there are usually one or two stones of this hue in the collection.

Bids close on Oct. 17 at noon EST, and bidders are notified of the outcome on Oct. 18. The company does not reveal the names of winning bidders or prices.

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