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Arpege Diamonds continues its quest to find the most famous diamonds ever to be unearthed. Our latest installment of the Famous Diamond Series is the enchanting Martian Pink Diamond. 

The Martian Pink is a wonder of nature, weighing 12.04 carats and graded fancy intense pink for its lack of secondary hue. Color modifiers such as purple or orange occur regularly within pink diamonds, and a diamond that is found to have none of these modifies ranks among the most valuable of the precious colored diamonds. The Martian Pink's color is subtle and soft, yet its brilliance makes this diamond one of only two round pink diamonds of such a significant size in the world. The Martian Pink Type lla characteristic indicates its exclusivity as only about 2% of all natural diamonds are given this grading. Diamonds of this type are typically transparent and free of impurities.

Harry Winston has long been known as “The King Of Diamonds” for his association with some of the world’s most famous diamonds. Winston was the leading jeweler in the world and the go to man for royalty, celebrities, and business moguls. In 1976, he was so impressed with the launch of the United States satellite to Mars that he searched through his inventory for a rough stone that could resemble the color of Mars. 

Winston cut and polished the stone in such a way that revealed an intense pink color, ultimately naming it the Martian Pink. Winston ultimately sold the diamond in 1976 to a private collector for an undisclosed amount. The Martian Pink was later put up for auction by the private collector through Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction in 2012, where it fetched a jaw dropping $17.4 million, that’s nearly $1.5 million per carat.

Over time, natural pink diamond prices have steadily appreciated due to the high market demand, not only are these a beautiful piece of jewelry for a collector, but also an alternative asset for an investor. Its no coincidence that two of the most expensive diamonds ever sold at auction were pink diamonds. The Graff Pink sold for $46.16 million and the Princie Diamond for $39.32 million.

Pink is undoubtedly the rarest of all colored diamonds and only a small amount exist. The Argyle Mine in Kimberly, Australia is the only significant source in the world of pink diamonds. Shockingly only about 1% percent of all diamonds mined out of the Argyle Mine are pink diamonds, but even more concerning is that only a limited supply of pink diamonds are left in this mine. The Australian mine is expected to cease production around 2020. Many of the pink diamonds that have been mined from the Argyle Mine of Australia have fetched upwards of millions of dollars at auctions worldwide.

For more of our Famous Diamond Series, see the links below: