Colored diamond fans out there will be happy to hear that a new pink diamond is on the diamond market, awaiting a proud new owner. Obtaining this fancy colored diamond is sure to be expensive, and the fact that it wasn’t sold in the 2008 Argyle Pink Diamond bid, an annual event organized by the diamond mining giant known as Rio Tinto, does not mean that the diamond price for this stunning gemstone will be a bargain. In fact, after the auction “failure,” Rio Tinto aimed to produce a more attractive design, generating a new 1.61 carat fancy colored diamond out of the 1.77 carat stone. Now it’s time to wait and see when the diamond will be sold, who will be the lucky owner and how unlucky his/her bank account will be.

The re-cutting process had nothing to do with improving the diamond’s proportions. The process was actually targeted towards adjusting the diamond’s angles in a manner that would intensify red hues. As color isn’t homogenously distributed throughout fancy colored diamonds, the new adjustments caused a change in the overall color of the stone. Previously, the diamond was more of a purplish-pink color, but now the red hues have become more distinct. This small adjustment is really quite significant. According to Argyle Pink Diamonds (a Rio Tinto subsidiary), the result of the re-cutting of this particular stone is pretty spectacular – it is now the second diamond over 1.5 carats ever acknowledged by the GIA with the color description of “fancy purplish red”. Will the small shift from a pinkish hue to a reddish one add an extra digit to the diamond’s value? Apparently, it’s still too early to tell, but it seems that Rio Tinto is very pleased with the final result and there’s a lot of excitement surrounding the new red beauty.

To the best of my knowledge, this exquisite re-cut colored diamond is still nameless, but it is certainly among the highly esteemed Argyle pink diamonds, excavated from the Australian Argyle diamond mine, the source of several other famous natural pink rough diamonds. An additional detail that might add special prestige to the reddish diamond is Rio Tinto’s statement that the Argyle Mine is due to close in the near future. Fancy colored diamond collectors hope that other diamond mines in Australia will continue to generate pink diamonds, but being one of the most impressive recent discoveries of the Argyle Diamond Mine could make this stone a very important gemstone in diamond mining history, helping to raise the diamond price as well.

There are many questions about this spectacular new fancy colored diamond burning on the lips of diamond experts around the globe: Will the fancy purplish red diamond be auctioned again? Will it be sold to a diamond collector? Will it be offered to a big jewelry retailer? Will it be held as a diamond investment? Will the new colored diamond remain on the market for long? The last question is the only one I will attempt to answer. If the high demand for unique fancy colored diamonds is any indication, the new fancy purplish red diamond will most likely be off the diamond market very soon. And the demand for this particular hue of fancy colored diamonds is undoubtedly expected to take its diamond price to extraordinary heights.