Pretty in pink: why rare coloured diamonds are the rage among China’s super-rich
- From De Beers to Graff, there is steady demand for coloured diamonds in China, with sophisticated buyers seeking these gems for their intense colours
In February, an exquisite pink diamond rough of exceptional quality was found at the famous Letseng mine in Lesotho.
The mine has yielded many renowned diamonds such as the Letseng Legacy, the Letseng Star and the magnificent white Lesotho Promise. The 13.33 ct rough renamed the Graff Lesotho Pink caused a whirlwind of excitement before it was snapped up by the diamond dealer Laurence Graff for a record-breaking US$8,750,360 – and that’s the price before cutting and setting, showing how precious coloured diamonds are.
“For every 10,000 white diamonds, there is only one coloured diamond,” Arnaud Bastien, Asia president and CEO of Graff, points out. “Coloured diamonds are rare, and pinks are extremely rare.”
Prices have soared in recent years and are likely to shoot higher when Australia’s Argyle mine stops production late next year. The mine is renowned for its pink and red diamonds, but they have tended to be small – rarely over 2 cts.
Nevertheless, over the past 18 years their value has soared 400 per cent, according to the mine’s owner Rio Tinto, making them a safe investment. Last year they sold 63 rare red, pink and violet diamonds of exquisite quality – a record-breaking year for these hues.
It is not surprising, then, when Andrew Coxon, president of the De Beers Diamond Institute, talks of the steady demand for coloured diamonds in China and the growing sophistication of buyers for these particular gems in vivid and strong fancy intense colours.
“Rare reds seem to have attracted investors with an eye, given they are becoming increasingly hard to find,” Coxon says. “Fancy blue and green diamond prices continue to break records and lift the popularity of all fancy coloured diamonds.”