“Buying a pink diamond is like buying a Pablo Picasso while he was alive... In another decade, the Argyle Pink Diamond will emerge as the new Faberge egg, the thing myths are made of. The value of rarity is the most priceless factor" 

- THE AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS REVIEW

Highly sought after for their extraordinary beauty, pink diamonds have a certain prestige that comes with their rarity. This rarity is however, directly reflected in the escalating prices of this luxury commodity.

Argyle Pink diamonds are currently one of the most sought after luxury goods in the world. This is because the Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia, where over 90% of these high-quality stones were sourced from world wide, is exhausted, and closed in November 2020.

What determines pink diamond prices?

Rarity

The pricing of natural diamonds is based on a very basic principle: the rarer the diamond, the higher the price. 

Only 0.01% of the 12 to 14 million carats of diamonds mined every year are fancy coloured diamonds. Only 0.0001% of all diamonds produced by the Argyle Diamond Mine each year are pink, but this fraction comprises 90% of the world’s yearly supply of pink diamonds. 

As such, pink diamonds are generally more expensive than other coloured diamonds and can be up to 20 times more expensive than white diamonds. The value of pink diamonds has been steadily increasing for decades.

Colour

The colour definition of a pink diamond, taking its saturation, hue, and tone into account, influences the price. The rarer or more valuable colours are the most deep, powerful, and vivid ones. The four “Fancy” shades of pink are usually priced much higher than the lighter shades.

Diamonds of a pure pink colour with no secondary hue, are considered quite rare and as such their prices reflect this. That being said, if they also have a rarer secondary hue like violet, it can actually increase their price further. Alternatively, if it has a secondary hue of a more common colour like brown, as in pink champagne stones, the price will usually decrease.

Origin

Due to high demand combined with low supply, artificial pink diamonds are creeping into the market. At Nina’s, we only deal with natural stones, we do not sell artificial ones.

More importantly, we are an Argyle Select Atelier. That means when it comes to pink diamonds, we are one of the chosen few jewellers selected by Argyle themselves, whom you can rely on for unerring quality, integrity and creativity. 

All of our pinks over 0.09 are certified stones from the Argyle mine. It is almost impossible to prove origin or chain of custody with diamonds, but these certificates provided to Ateliers do that. For an Argyle Pink, certification is imperative. Without it, there is no guarantee where your stone has come from.

Clarity

Clarity indicates the quality of a diamond’s shine and reflection, plus any defects. A diamond with little to no defects is most often considered rarer and as such, is more expensive. Unlike white diamonds, pink diamond clarity is less important when determining the value. But diamonds with higher clarity will always have better sparkle and are also generally rarer, which usually makes them more expensive.

Carat

Many believe that a carat is the size of a diamond, but it is actually a diamond’s weight. Heavier diamonds are pricier, as large pink stones are very hard to come by.

Cut

Pink diamonds are harder to cut due to their complicated structure. The slightest miscalculation can lead to the loss of colour and shine. When cutting a pink diamond, the master craftsman needs to take into account many factors including the physics of light and how to unleash the colour and brightness of the stone as best as possible. Hence, the more expertly cut the pink diamond, the higher the price.

The final value of a pink diamond is determined by a mixture of the factors above, but each factor has a different weight of importance. For example, a very large pink diamond with a common colour may be less valuable than a small diamond with a very rare colour.

Purchasing pink diamonds: A final tip

It can be difficult to know the value of a given diamond, so it’s important to evaluate diamonds against all the criteria above. For pink diamonds, GIA certification is not always available. Argyle pink diamonds are also so unique in colour that their own scale needed to be created to properly grade them.

For pink diamond buyers, what is more important is Argyle Certification, which guarantees the quality, chain of custody and trust of the stone. In other words, make sure you buy from an Argyle Select Atelier, one of 30 jewellers in the world who have been certified as a high quality and trusted source of Argyle pink diamonds.

At Nina’s we take great pride in being an Argyle Select Atelier. We offer natural, ethically-sourced diamonds of the highest quality. For more information about buying pink diamonds, download Nina’s Pink Diamond Buying Guide or get in touch with us today.