February was filled with colored diamond news from around the world, including some amazing auctions, Valentine’s Day specials, diamond trends, and more! This month, Arpège Diamonds is pleased to present the February edition of colored diamonds news.
1. Colored diamonds come in different shapes and sizes. For the month of February, Arpège Diamonds presents: Red Diamonds – Everything You Wanted To Know. Be sure to check out both parts of the series; (click here for part one), and (click here for part two).
2. February marks an important month for one of the world’s largest diamond trading organizations. The Israel Diamond Exchange held its sixth annual International Diamond Week. According to Sharon Gefen, the Public Relations Director, 400 buyers from 30 countries attended this year’s event.
3. In honor of the International Diamond Week by the Israel Diamond Exchange, the organization hosted a replica of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire. This crown is embedded with 11,352 polished diamonds. According to Diamonds.net, the original crown was used at the coronations in Russia since Catherine the Great in 1762. Check out the $20 million crown here.
4. Rio Tinto is expected cease production in the year 2020 of the Argyle diamond mine. So what’s going to happen after that? Currently, Rio Tinto is reviewing plans to extend the life of the mine. Rio Tinto is in the process of expanding the mine and still has time to make a call on whether it will continue to the second stage. So far, the organization has spent $2.5 billion trying to expand the mine.
5. Valentine’s Day falls on the 14th of every February. The day symbolizes everlasting love, happiness, and joy. So why not show that everlasting love with a colored diamond? Arpège Diamonds highlights this the in our Valentine's Day post.
6. Although Christmas may be gone, it sure did come around again for the Madhya Pradesh government. Earlier this month (February 2017), Rio Tinto gifted the Bunder diamond mine to Indian government. Rio Tinto wanted to spend $500 million developing the mine, but had permitting problems, which prevented the development. It’s estimated the mine contains 34.2 million carats of diamonds.
7. According to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), fancy-color diamonds prices grew in 2016 due to the high demand of blue and pink diamonds. Blue diamonds increased by 5.5% in 2016, and pink diamonds 1.4% respectively. Jim Pounds, chairman of the FCRF’s advisory board, says. “Blue fancy-color diamond prices are at their all-time peak due to a combination of very thin supply and healthy demand”.
For more reading on colored diamonds, see the links below:
- Investing in Natural Pink Diamonds: What You Need to Know
- 9 Top Colored Diamonds Sold In 2016
- The Rich History of Colored Diamonds
- 3 Key Insights Driving Fancy Colored Diamonds Investments