By P Chong                                                                                                       Saturday, 25 February 2012

 Wikipedia –       Argyle Pink Jubilee

              Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. The bigger they are

the more treasured & pricy they become. Diamonds immediately

invoke in your mind such famous names as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor

right up to the Queen. What if they are rare and large

and of the unusual pink colour?

In its 244-year history Christie’s, the high-profile auction house, has only auctioned 18 polished pink diamonds larger than 10 carats. Large diamonds typically end in museums or or in the hands of the rich & famous.

Recently in February 2012, a lot of excitement has been generated by the finding of a rough pink diamond weighing 12.76 carats (2.55 g). It is the largest rough pink diamond unearthed at the Rio TintoArgyle diamond mine in Western Australia. It is called The Argyle Pink Jubilee.

The rough diamond – estimated to be worth millions – light pink in colour started its cut in Perth on 21 February 2012.The cutter is Richard How Kim Kam. The stone will be graded by a team of international experts. It will then be be sold by invitation-only tender.

It is similar in colour to The Williamson Pink, which is the diamond that Her Majesty The Queen received as a wedding gift and was subsequently set into a brooch for her Coronation. More than 90 per cent of the world’s pink diamonds come from this mine.

Expert diamond polisher Richard How Kim Kam has now started work in Perth on preparing the stone. Mr Kam, who will take about 10 days to cut and polish the diamond as a single stone, said “I’m going to take it very carefully. I know the world will be watching.”

When the diamond has been cut and polished it will be graded by a team of experts and showcased to the world before being sold later this year.

Argyle Pink Diamonds manager Josephine Johnson said “This rare diamond is generating incredible excitement. A diamond of this calibre is unprecedented – it has taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this stone and we may never see one like this again. The individual who gets to wear this remarkable pink diamond will be incredibly lucky indeed.”

 References

^Rare 12-Carat Argyle Pink Diamond Unearthed In Australia. Forbes. 21 February 2012

^Australia’s largest rough pink diamond unearthed. BBC News. 22 February 2012.

^ abRio finds ‘unprecedented’ 12.76 carat pink diamond in the Kimberley. The Australian. 22 February 2012.

^“Australia’s largest rough pink diamond unearthed”. BBC News (British Broadcasting Corporation). 22 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.

^ ab“Rio’s biggest pink diamond gets the cut”. The West Australian (West Australian Newspapers Limited). 21 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.