Diamonds Update

Crater of Diamonds State Park

Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro, Arkansas continues to be the source of diamonds for the public who have a keen eye and are willing to do a little digging.  Every year, heavy machinery is used to uncover new material in the park’s 37 1/2 –acre diamond search area where park visitors can keep the diamonds they discover.  On average, over two diamonds a day are found by visitors to the park.

The last 12 months have been productive for diamond seekers and the following stories highlight some of those “shiny” discoveries.

Richard Burke and his wife, Carol, of Flint, Michigan had read about Crater of Diamonds State Park in a geology book and seen a feature about the park on The Travel Channel.  The couple had been visiting Colorado panning for gold and fossil hunting when they decided to make the two day drive to Arkansas to try their searching skills on diamonds.  On September 30, 2008, Richard was searching a shallow ravine when he discovered a 4.68-carat white diamond that looks like a frosted ice cube.  He named the diamond the “Sweet Caroline” after his wife Carol and their favorite song, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”

On November 16, 2008, Rhonda Bankston of Baton Rouge, Louisiana was camping at the park and had decided to try her hand at diamond searching.  She had seen a segment about Crater of Diamonds State Park on the Travel Channel’s “The Best Places to Find Cash and Treasures” and was intrigued enough to try it.  On her second day of searching, she found a 2.09-carat white diamond that she later had faceted to a 1.04-carat cushion cut shape.  Rhonda named her diamond “Dream Angel,” which is appropriate for a gem with exceptional white color and high clarity.  Crater of Diamonds had yielded many high quality diamonds and the most famous was the 3.03-carat Strawn-Wagner Diamond found in 1990 that was ultimately cut to a 1.09-carat D color, Flawless clarity, and Ideal cut diamond, which is the highest quality possible when it was graded by the American Gem Society Laboratory.

Glenn Worthington has visited Crater of Diamonds State Park for 30 years and has found many diamonds, written a book about the park, and produced a DVD demonstrating how to find diamonds at the park.  On April 9, 2009, Glenn was searching for diamonds by dumping buckets of mud over a screen.  He had decided to process one last bucket before the Easter weekend when he discovered his largest diamond.  The 2.04-carat diamond has a bright yellow color and has a smooth, lustrous surface and an elongated shape.  Glenn named his special find “Easter Sunrise” because of its appearance and the timing of his find.

On April 28, 2009, Mike Burns of Arab, Alabama, discovered a 5.75-carat white diamond.  Mike had traveled to Colorado with a good friend to look for gold but the property owner was not available where they wanted to search.  Prior to the trip, Mike’s wife, Linda, had mentioned she would like a diamond for their 20th anniversary and she repeated that comment on the phone when he called from Colorado.  She suggested he should get to Crater of Diamonds State Park so he could find a diamond for her.  Mike did go to the park and while walking along a wet creek bank spotted a shiny object.  After confirming his find was a white diamond, he named his gem “Arabian Knight” in recognition of his hometown high school football team.  Time will only tell if Linda gets her anniversary diamond.

On May 13, 2009, Stephen Carter of Hot Springs, Arkansas discovered a 2.35-carat white diamond.  As Stephen was leaving the search area at about 6:00 pm, he noticed the sparkling white stone sitting on top of a mound of dirt alongside the furrows in the field.  The angle of the sun and his Billy’s vigilant eyes resulted in the special find.  Stephen and his wife had been experiencing tough financial times.  They had watched TV news coverage of a woman who found a diamond at the Crater of Diamonds.  The Carters thought that finding a diamond might be the answer to their financial troubles so they prayed for several weeks and made the trip to Crater of Diamonds.  On their fifth trip to the park, Carters said “Our prayers were answered” and they appropriately named the diamond “Faith.”

On October 20, 2009, Royce Walker of Lockesburg, Arkansas was operating a bulldozer for a contractor trenching the Crater of Diamonds State Park search area.  As he walked across the search area to give his son, Bobby, a lunch break he spotted something shiny in the dirt.  He picked up what turned out to be a 2.93-carat, dark honey brown colored diamond about the size of a pinto bean.  The diamond is shiny on one side and metallic looking on the other side with a broken edge indicating it was probably part of a larger diamond crystal at one time.

On October 30, 2009, Billy Moore of Murfreesboro, Arkansas found a 3.20-carat white color diamond with a rounded shape.  Billy named the gem “The Frosty” because of its rounded, white appearance.  Billy is a frequent visitor at Crater of Diamonds State Park.  While he has found approximately 400 diamonds in the park during his years of searching but the 3.20-carat is by far his largest find.

Magnificent Colored Diamond Sale

Sotheby’s “Magnificent Jewels” sale in Geneva November 17 was a high dollar success for colored diamonds and other colored gemstones but the highlight of the show was a green diamond ring.
Only a few natural green diamonds have been auctioned in recent decades and most of those had bluish or yellowish secondary color, which pointed to the importance of the sale of a 2.52-carat Fancy Vivid green color Cushion Modified Brilliant Cut diamond.  The rare diamond was claw-set in a platinum mounting with yellow gold head.

The cushion modified brilliant cut diamond was graded Fancy Vivid Green color, VS1 clarity, depth 63.9%, table 58%, measurements 8.80 x 7.35 x 4.70 mm, ratio 1.20, Excellent polish, Very Good symmetry, Faint fluorescence, and was laser inscribed “GIA 2106213537.”  While not the highest priced item at the auction, the $3.08 million sale set a world-record for price per carat for a green diamond at auction.

Other colored diamonds sales made history too.  A 3.17-carat Fancy Intense blue diamond sold for $2.52 million and set a new world-record for price per carat for an Intense Blue diamond at auction.  The round brilliant cut diamond was set in a simple four-prong platinum mounting.  The natural Fancy Intense blue colored diamond has VVS2 clarity.

The Roxburghe Rubies, a necklace and earring set, sold for $5.77 million, five times the estimated price before the auction.  The necklace contains 24 cushion shaped rubies and 24 cushion-cut diamonds and the set dates back to the late 19th century.  The necklace was the property of Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe and is thought to have been purchased from Garrards by the 5th Earl of Rosebery, as recorded in one of his diary entries.  The necklace is accompanied by its original turquoise velvet fitted case, embellished with the monogram R under a coronet, by R&S Garrard & Co, Goldsmith and Jewellers to The Crown, as well as by the original hand-written documentation detailing the weights of the stones.

Marisa Miller in Victoria Secret’s $3 Million Diamond Bra

The showpiece of this year’s Victoria Secret’s annual Fashion Show will be the Harlequin Fantasy Bra, worn by supermodel Marisa Miller.  The bra, created by Italian jewelry house Damiani, contains 2,300 white, Champagne and Cognac colored diamonds with a 16 carat heart-shaped brown-yellow diamond pendant dangling in the front.  Taking over 800 hours to make and with 150 total carat weight of diamonds, the gold framework and hand-set diamonds are fashioned in a harlequin pattern.

Marisa Miller was on the cover of the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, is a model for Victoria’s Secret, and is an ambassador for the American Cancer Society.

The fashion show will be televised by CBS on Tuesday December 1 at 10:00 PM ET/PT.

Check out last year’s fantasy bra blog article:
http://diamonds.blogs.com/diamonds_update/2008/10/5-million-victorias-secret-diamond-bra.html

Colored Diamonds on Display in New York City

If you live in or are visiting New York City the next few months, you might want to stop by the American Museum of Natural History and get a rare chance to view some exceptional colored diamonds.  September 15 was the opening of a new display of in the museum’s Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems.

The collection includes the following diamonds:

• An intense-pink brilliant diamond from the Argyle Diamond Mine in Australia set in gold metal mounting with small pink diamonds designed by Carvin French.

• A 5.4-carat round brilliant-cut diamond set in a white gold pendant with 20 sapphires, designed in California in 1960.

• Five vivid naturally colored diamonds ranging in size from 1.01 to 2.34 carats from the Olympia Diamond Collection, which are on loan from Scarselli Diamonds. The five diamonds are a 1.01-carat vivid orange-yellow diamond (mined in Africa), a 1.02-carat vivid blue-green diamond (mined in Brazil), a 2.17-carat vivid purplish-pink diamond (Argyle Mine in Australia), 2.13-carat vivid blue diamond (mined in Africa), and a 2.34-carat vivid orange diamond (from Africa). The vivid color grade is the highest colored diamond grade given by the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) and these five diamonds are rare because they are completely saturated colors.

• Synthetic (laboratory-grown) diamonds from the Boston-based Apollo Diamond Corporation, created using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The display shows the stages of growth of CVD diamonds as the diamonds form in gas mixture to a heated chamber containing “seed” material.

• Synthetic (laboratory-grown) diamonds from Sarasota, Florida-based Gemesis Corporation, created using the high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) technique, which uses large presses to transform carbon material to diamond using compression. The display includes uncut and cut (polished) diamonds, loose and in jewelry.

This special colored diamond display runs until January 2010 and is free with admission to the museum, which is located at Central Park West and 79th Street in Manhattan.

507.55 Carat Diamond Found At Cullinan Mine

A 507.55-carat white diamond was recovered September 24 at the Cullinan diamond mine in South Africa.  Initial review of the diamond indicated it has exceptionally white color and high clarity.  The diamond is currently undergoing expert analysis to document color and clarity grading and to determine if the diamond is Type II (lacking yellow producing trace elements). 

The diamond was discovered with three other large diamonds with similar high color and clarity weighing 168.00 carats, 58.50 carats, and 53.30 carats.

Johan Dippenaar, Petra’s Chief Executive Officer noted, “The Cullinan mine has again given the world a spectacularly beautiful and important diamond.  Initial indications are that it is of exceptional color and clarity, which suggest extraordinary potential for its polished yield.  We now eagerly await the findings of the expert analysis.”

The Cullinan mine is best known as the source of the world’s largest gem diamond ever discovered, which was discovered in 1905, named the “Cullinan,” and weighed 3,106 carats rough.  Other famous diamonds sourced at the Cullinan mine include the Golden Jubilee (755 carats rough), the De Beers Centenary (599 carats rough), the Niarchos (426 carats rough), and the Premier Rose (353 carats rough).  Cullinan was also the source for some of the world’s largest polished diamonds including the Golden Jubilee (545 carats polished), the Great Star of Africa (530 carats polished), and the famous Taylor-Burton diamond (69 carats polished).

Petra Diamonds Cullinan Consortium who purchased the mine from De Beers in 2007 owns the Cullinan mine.  The Cullinan mine is also the world’s primary source of blue diamonds.  In May 2009, a fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 7.03 carats (cut from 26.58 carat rough) from the Cullinan mine sold for $9.4 million, the highest price ever paid for a gemstone sold at auction.

Hope Diamond Gets A Fashion Make Over

Last week the world’s most famous gemstone, the Hope Diamond, was displayed to the public for the first time in 50 years out of its setting.  Housed in the Hall of Geology , Gems and Minerals at the National Museum of Natural History, the Hope Diamond is getting a rare fashion make over.

More than five million visitors a year have viewed the diamond that has been in an ornate setting, sixteen white pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds suspended from a chain containing forty-five diamonds.

To observe its 50th year at the museum, the public was able to vote on a new setting for the famous blue diamond.  The Hope Diamond will be displayed loose, with no mounting, until next spring when it will be set in a temporary setting called “Enchanting Hope,” a necklace of a ribbon of diamonds with the Hope sitting in a cluster of diamonds in a teardrop shape.  The Hope Diamond will be returned to its ornate setting in late 2010.

$5 Million Victoria’s Secret Diamond Bra

Victoria’s Secret knows how to get attention and their 2008 Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra is no exception.  The one-of-a-kind contains about 3,900 gemstones with 1,500 total carat weight and was created by Martin Katz, the rare gemstone jeweler who has worked with Victoria’s Secret on earlier fantasy lingerie.

The bra has 3,575 black diamonds, 117 certified one-carat white round diamonds and 34 rubies.  Two tear-shaped black diamonds with 100 total carat weight, drop from diamond encrusted cords in from.

Brazilian Adriana Lima is the supermodel who will be modeling the this 2008 Fantasy Bra in the Victoria’s Secret Christmas catalog as well as the December 3 televised fashion show.

Learn more about black diamonds...

Gemesis Working on Other Colors of Synthetic Diamonds

Gemesis, the Florida-based synthetic diamond company, currently only produces the laboratory grown diamonds in yellow and orange colors.  The company is working on production techniques to produced pink and blue synthetic diamonds.  It hopes to have that process developed by the end of this year.  Gemesis is also working on process that would eventually allow it to grow white diamond crystals in the 5 to 10 carat range that are in greater demand worldwide.  These larger sized synthetic diamonds are probably at least three years away from commercial production.

Gemesis has recently updated their web site to provide educational information about their company and synthetic diamonds, including the jewelry brands carrying Gemesis Cultured Diamonds.

Check out my previous post entitled "Synthetic Diamonds or Diamond Simulants: Why the Confusion?"

Competitive Argyle Pink Diamond Tender

The 2007 Rio Tinto Diamonds Argyle Pink Diamond Tender has concluded with great success.  Some of the rarest and most beautiful diamonds in the world were for sale and examined by a select group of invited buyers in Perth (September 11-14), Hong Kong (September 18-28) and New York (October 1-12).  About 100 prospective buyers were invited to examine the diamonds in secret locations, and then submitted bids for one or more of the 65 specially selected pink diamonds.

The rules of the tender prohibit announcement of the 17 successful bidders, the winning bids, or even the sales total for the tender.  The special Rio Tinto tender pink diamonds have been know to get prices of as much as $400,000 per carat, forty times that of white diamonds.  Recent projections that pink diamonds from the Argyle mine are expected to run out by 2018 have increased the public and industry’s awareness of their rarity and perceived value.

This year’s tender was exceptional due to the range of vivid and deep colors with deep pinks, purplish reds, and a rare gray-violet colored diamond.

Rio Tinto Diamonds Argyle mine started production in 1985 and the open pit mine operates 24 hours a day, 265 days a year.  The open pit’s normal life ends in 2008 but Rio Tinto has extended its life to 2018 with low-grade production expansion in the pit and new underground operations.  Historically, 60 to 80 million tons of material are extracted from the open pit operations, resulting in about 9 million tons of diamond-bearing ore and between 25 and 30 million carats of diamonds.  Moving beyond 2008, production is projected fall to about half of current operations.

Only about 5% Argyle’s production is gem quality diamonds and only an extremely small portion of those are pink diamonds.  It is certainly no exaggeration to say that the annual Rio Tinto Diamonds Pink Tenders contain exceptionally rare diamonds.

Blue Diamond Sells for $7.98 Million

Sotheby’s recent Hong Kong auction was the site of a record-breaking diamond sale.  The 6.04-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, cut in the emerald shape, sold for $7.98 million.  The internally flawless sold for $1.32 million per carat, which is a new price per carat record for any gemstone ever sold.  The combination of the rare blue color, the internally flawless color, and the large carat weight for a blue diamond make this an exceptional stone among world-class diamonds.

The previous owner of the diamond was a private Asian collector and the new buyer is Moussaieff Jewellers, a London based jeweler with a reputation for acquiring some of the world’s most valuable gemstones.

Blue diamonds have always captured attention because of their rarity and beauty.  There are entire books written about the most famous blue diamond, the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond, displayed in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.  The Hope Diamond started out as the 112.25-carat French Blue discovered in India, which was a source of blue diamonds from 1500-1700.

In recent history, South Africa has been the location of blue diamond discoveries, almost exclusively at the Premier Mine.  Some other famous blue diamond sales include a 1994 Sotheby’s sale of a $9 million for a 20.17-carat blue diamond ($460,000 per carat).  In 1995, a 6.70-carat blue diamond sold for $3.52 million ($525,000 per carat).

Hong Kong was an appropriate location for the record-breaking sale because diamond shoppers there are notorious for their thirst for luxury diamonds.  Hong Kong is the king of glitz in Asia, especially for colored diamonds.  Colored diamond sources are diminishing so the rare pinks and blues are becoming increasing popular with serious collectors in Europe, the United States, and Asia.