Discovering a very rare gem: red diamonds. Did you know they exist? There are few of them and they have crazy prices. But they are beautiful ♦
Have you ever seen a natural red diamond like a ruby? It is very difficult. If only one diamond out of 10 thousand specimens has enough color to be classified as fancy (i.e. fantasy, of a color other than the classic white-colorless). Among the fancy diamonds, the pink ones are considered among the rarest and, if they have an even darker shade of tone, they are even more exceptional. These diamonds almost always also have secondary colors: pink, purple or brown, like the nuance of the Edcora Red Diamond, the largest ever classified by the Gia (5.71 carats) and kept well hidden by its owners, it seems to be a company of Hong Kong, so much so that there are no public photos and the origin of this diamond is not even known.
In short, diamonds that have a red color are very rare. Furthermore, the origins of this coloring are still mysterious. Gemologists have not yet managed to agree on the origin of this shade. The most reliable thesis is that red diamonds are actually very dark pink gems. During the formation of the diamond, this type of stone would have been subjected to such great pressure as to alter the internal molecular structure: atoms out of place, compared to those of common colorless diamonds. But, at the moment, this hypothesis is being discussed.
You will never buy a red diamond, unless you are as rich as a sheikh or a hi-tech genius from Silicon Valley. But, in case you are offered one, be careful: the color red may (and is the most likely hypothesis) not entirely natural. In fact, the coloring can also be induced by subjecting a normal colorless diamond to radioactive particles, heating it to high temperatures and then putting it under strong pressure. In short, it is no longer a natural color.
The value of the Brazilian diamond Moussaieff Red Diamond, of 5.11 carats with a Trillion cut, that is triangular, is also known: it was purchased in 2002 for 8 million dollars (about 5.4 million euros) by the jeweler from whom it takes the name. Baptized with the surname of the owner is also the third place, the Kazanjian Red, discovered in the Licthenburg mine in South Africa: it is 5.05 carats and has an emerald cut. In the past it had been mistaken for a ruby due to its blood red color. It has an adventurous history: during the Second World War it was stolen by the Nazis and had various passages until it reached the hands of the president of Kazanjian Diamonds. The 5.03-carat De Young Red purchased in a real estate sale also suffered an error of assessment: it was mistaken for a garnet for its intense red tending to brown. It is also one of the few diamonds visible to all, as it is exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington.
In short, red diamonds are so rare that most jewelers, even the most famous ones, have never seen one. Currently, 90 percent of the world’s natural pink and red diamonds come from a single source: the Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia. According to the officials of Rio Tinto, the company that owns the mine, these diamonds are almost impossible to find: the quantity of those mined in a year larger than half a carat is laughable and would fit in the palm of your hand. The best pieces are sold at the Pink Diamond Tender, one of the most important international auctions for this category and in 30 years only nine Fancy Red Argyle have been offered. One of these, 0.75 carats, was heart cut and ring mounted together with another diamond, the 0.71 carat Argyle Celestial in a deep blue gray. The combination of two stones with such a difficult cut makes the ring extraordinary. But the 1.56-carat Argyle Phoenix Fancy Red Diamond is the real star: it sold for more than $ 2 million, the highest price for a diamond produced by the mine. But beware, the value of red diamonds is constantly increasing because there are more and more: the Anglo-Australian multinational has planned to stop production.
