Investors secure rare stone from Rio Tinto diamond sale

The Coloured Diamond Investment House, a group of private investors seeking to build an inventory of the rare gems, has just secured one of the top 55 pink diamonds to go on sale this year.

That we have fostered a direct relationship with Rio Tinto is a major achievement

The 1.02 carat radiant cut fancy intense pink diamond was one of the lots in Rio Tinto’s 2011 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, the world’s most exclusive diamond sale.

“This was our foremost ambition,” director Lee Satariano told The Times Business. “Around 90 per cent of the world’s pink diamonds come from the Argyle mine in Western Australia, which is owned by Rio Tinto. We spent months looking at other suppliers, and the fact that we have fostered a direct relationship with Rio Tinto is a major achievement for our venture.”

According to Rio Tinto, bids for this year’s tender collection of the best and rarest pink diamonds, were “keenly contested by investors, collectors and luxury jewellers”. The world-leading mining group said the tender’s final results demonstrated significant global reach and continued strong price appreciation.

The tender included a suite of 11 heart-shaped pink diamonds; the largest, a 1.31 carat fancy intense pink, was secured by a Chinese bidder. A 1.06 carat fancy vivid purplish pink oval-shaped diamond, known as the Argyle Alanya, went to Japan. An Israeli bid secured the one extremely rare red diamond.

Participation in the auction was by invitation only.

Gaba Diamonds director Lee Satariano, a gemmologist and grader who is lending his expertise to the coloured diamonds collection project, is well-networked in the international circuit.

After being recommended by a long-standing contact, the Coloured Diamond Investment House was vetted and invited to tender for lots in the auction. All 55 stones were catalogued in a prestigious tender book.

The Coloured Diamond Investment House’s contact then travelled to Hong Kong to view the stone, discussed the value, and an offer formally made on October 20. The stone was secured by the Maltese investors four days later. The pink diamond is laser-inscribed with the Argyle tender number and is certified by both the Argyle mine and the GIA. Its acquisition is significant in that it fulfils all the criteria the venture had set for the collection’s first pink diamond.

“We were seeking a square cut stone with high intensity colour,” Mr Satariano explained. “We tendered for the one stone and we put considerable effort and resources towards securing it.”

Meanwhile, the investors have also reached another major objective by identifying a match for one of the collection’s yellow diamonds.

The venture’s inventory now features one pink and four yellow diamonds in total.

The newly acquired diamond, a natural fancy vivid yellow, was re-cut from its original 1.21 carat, in a painstaking, three-week process overseas. Mr Satariano described the result as “exceptional” – at its new size of 1.01 carat, it is a very close match to the collection’s 1.02 carat yellow diamond. Both stones are GIA-certified as bearing natural colours.

The Coloured Diamond Investment House was set up earlier this year to acquire finest quality coloured diamonds, larger than 0.5 carats in top colours pink and yellow, over the next four years.

Seven months into the project, the investors acknowledge 2011 has proven “extremely productive and successful” and plans are being made for next year.

A number of requests have been made on the international market over the past few months for stones of specific sizes, colours and shapes.

The investors’ major targets now are a large yellow stone to accompany the newly matched pair, and participation in the next tender to bid for another pink diamond. Their wish list for 2012 also includes the collection’s first blue diamond and an additional, larger yellow stone.

Mid-year, the venture will seek to have its inventory formally valued for the first time by an independent valuer who will most likely travel from the US. After exactly a year of acquisitions, the investors will be able to monitor the collection’s appreciation against the original forecasts.

The collection’s five coloured diamonds are to go on display at an event at the Gaba premises in L-Iklin on November 25. The event will mark the first anniversary of Gaba’s multi-storey complex. On the night, Gaba is collaborating with Alfa Romeo Malta to celebrate the Giulietta’s first year on the local market.

Mr Satariano said the event will be the perfect opportunity to showcase the coloured diamond collection.

“Many people have never seen a coloured diamond up close and this is our chance to put them on show so that people can ask about them,” he added. “This will also be our way to share this project with guests.”