Fancy pink diamonds are the most romantic of them all. With it's outstanding feminine and extremely rare color in the world of loose diamonds, natural pink diamonds are the perfect choice for celebrities, royal families, top designers, collectors, investors and even for you!. How do they form? Where do they come from? How rare are they and how are they priced? All the answers and more, in this article.
How are natural pink diamonds formed?
All natural diamonds, both fancy colored and colorless alike, are formed in a long and fascinating process under the earth's mantle for millions and billions of years. High temperatures ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 degrees centigrade combined with the pressure generated at a depth of 150-200 km have instigated long-term natural chemical processes that produce the stunning diamond crystals we cherish so deeply.
Sometimes, fancy colored diamonds get their color from additional elements captured in the pure carbon crystalline structure of what was supposed to be a white diamond crystal. For example, yellow diamonds get their color from nitrogen molecules that were mixed in the process, while green diamonds get their color due to radiation. But the case of natural pink diamonds is slightly different, still shrouded by mystery and not yet determined decisively. Some experts suggest that the pink color is actually acquired in conditions of very high pressure that cause deformities in the crystal. As a result, the light refracts, the green light is absorbed, and a spectacular pink light is projected as a result.
Where are natural pink diamonds quarried?
Fancy pink diamonds, which considered one of the rarest diamonds in the world, are currently quarried from a relatively small number of mines in countries such as Australia, Russia, South Africa, Canada, Tanzania, and Brazil. The largest mine currently active is the Argyle mine in Australia, which is owned by the world's largest mining company - Rio Tinto. Argyle mine is the source of approximately 90% of all red and pink loose diamonds in the world, with an annual output volume of about 40-50 carats of fancy pink diamonds alone. The average weight of the rare natural pink diamonds quarried at Argyle is around 1 carat, and they are sold at a single auction every year, attended by collectors and investors from around the globe who wish to own such rare and mesmerizing stones.
A few hundred years ago, in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was actually the Kollur and Agra mines in India that produced natural and impressive pink diamonds, including the Darya-i-Noor diamond weighing 186 carats, the Nur-el-Ain diamond weighing 60 carats, and the Shah Jahaan diamond weighing 56.71 carats.
Fancy pink diamonds color scale
The main factor dictating the pricing of loose pink diamonds, like any fancy colored diamond, is the color . Unlike white diamonds, whose lack of color is their most valued attribute, when it comes to fancy colored diamonds, the stronger the hue is - the more valuable the diamond. For comparison, the Argyle mine has estimated that the value of a fancy pink diamond with the same characteristics as a white diamond (to the extent that they’re comparable) would cost up to 20 times its colorless counterpart. Whereas a Light pink diamond would cost much less than a Fancy deep pink diamond. Therefore, it’s safe to say that the pricing scale for fancy colored diamonds in general, and highly rare diamonds such as pink ones in particular, does not ascend in a linear and fixed progression, but rather in exponential increments depending on the diamond’s color and intensity.
If you're looking for pink diamonds for sale you should know that the color pink in the diamond is graded on a scale of 9 levels: Faint pink diamond, Very Light pink diamond, Light pink diamond, Fancy Light pink diamond, Fancy pink diamond, Fancy Intense pink diamond, Fancy Vivid pink diamond, Fancy Deep pink diamond & Fancy Dark pink diamond. “Faint pink diamond” represents a bright and pastel shade while “Fancy Deep pink diamond” represents a strong and deep pink tint.
The color of a fancy colored diamond, including fancy natural pink diamonds, is determined by three key characteristics that affect its grading: Hue, tone, and saturation. Licensed international gemological institutes such as the GIA examine these three factors when grading a diamond’s color out of the 9 color definitions mentioned above.
3 factors affecting the pink diamond color definition
Hue - represents the diamond’s dominant color. Although secondary hues (Modifying colors/Overtone) may be present as well, their proportion will be lesser than that of the primary hue, which basically determines the diamond’s color category.
Tone - the tone indicates the amount of light or darkness in the diamond and directly impacts the hue’s saturation level.
Saturation - this parameter reflects the hue’s strength and intensity and is actually the key feature according to which the diamond is defined and priced. Diamonds with a strong saturation are considered rarer and therefore priced higher.
Secondary hues in pink diamonds
In addition to the primary pink hue, most natural pink diamonds have a secondary hue (and sometimes even two of them), which apart from being an excellent fashionable choice offered by mother nature, also affect the pink diamond’s price. The most popular color combinations found in pink diamonds include the colors purple, brown, and orange.
The secondary hue’s impact on the price of a pink diamond correlates with the level of the color’s rarity, and if pricing wasn’t complicated enough, the additional hues produce hundreds of other variations and prices that don’t follow a linear scale.
Despite the complexity of pricing fancy colored diamonds, with or without secondary hues, there is one rule of thumb you should keep in mind: the more common and less rare the secondary hue, the lower the price of the diamond; whereas a rare secondary hue will raise its price.
For example, a fancy pink diamond with a secondary brown hue will be cheaper than a fancy pink diamond with a rarer secondary purple hue, even though both have the same weight and clarity level.
The order of the colors in the certificate indicates the degree of the color's dominance in the diamond. According to this principle, the primary hue (pink in this case) will actually appear in the far end of the color definition, while the secondary hues will appear at the start. For example, Brownish Pink is in fact a diamond whose primary hue is pink and secondary hue is brown.
The description of the diamond’s secondary hue in the certificate issued by the Gemological Institute indicates its level of presence in the diamond. For example: When the certificate cites the color Purplish Pink, this indicates a relatively low presence of a secondary purple hue (25%) combined with the primary pink hue (75%); whereas if the color is defined as Purple Pink, that indicates a more dominant purple tint (40%) combined with the primary pink hue (60%).
*The figures are presented for illustration purposes only and do not represent the characteristics of a specific diamond.
Since secondary hues are relatively common among pink diamonds, pure pink diamonds that have no additional tint are considered even rarer, and the stronger their color, the rarer and more expensive the diamond.
Here are the pink diamonds hues combinations as found in nature from left to right
line 1: fancy vivid purplish pink diamond, fancy intense pink diamond, fancy intense pink diamond, fancy vivid purplish pink diamond, fancy intense pink diamonda, fancy vivid purplish pink diamond
line 2: fancy intense pink diamond, fancy brownish pink diamond, fancy pink purple diamond, light pink diamond, fancy brownish pink diamond, fancy orangy pink diamond, fancy light orangy pink diamond
line 3: fancy intense pink diamond, fancy purplish pink diamond, fancy vivid purple pink diamond, fancy intense purplish pink diamond, fancy intense orangy pink diamond, fancy brown pink diamond, fancy vivid pink diamond
line 4: very light pink diamond, fancy brown pink diamond, very light pink diamond, fancy brown pink diamond, fancy orangy pink diamond, fancy intense purplish pink diamond, fancy vivid purplish pink diamond
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Fancy pink diamond prices | The effect of the remaining 3c's
The 4 C's are four key parameters set by the GIA for grading white and fancy colored diamonds. The parameters are – color, carat, cut, and clarity. As noted previously, the most crucial factor determining the rarity and pricing of fancy colored diamonds is the color. However, the remaining three C's have a significant impact on the diamond's pricing as well.
- Carat - Although many tend to equate carat with size, in fact it represents a unit of weight, 0.2 grams to be precise (or 100 points), while the cutting method and the diamond’s shape affect the apparent size. In the case of rare diamonds like fancy colored diamonds in general and fancy pink diamonds in particular, weight makes a huge difference! The heavier the diamond, the exponentially higher its price. For example: 100 pink diamonds weighing 0.01 each (1 carat in total) will cost $2,000-$2,500, compared to a single 1 carat pink diamond with identical color, clarity, and cut, which will cost $30-$40K. This gap stems from the fact that heavier diamonds are much rarer and comprise a significantly smaller portion of the market, therefore the pink diamond price per carat is much higher .
2. Clarity – the clarity parameter in untreated natural loose pink diamonds (and diamonds in general) determines how many internal or external flaws there are in a diamond (using 10x magnification), ranging from diamonds with no flaws at all, even under magnification, to diamonds with flaws that may affect their transparency and shine. Although the clarity factor becomes less important in the case of rare and unique colors like pink, it is still recommended to understand the scale of existing clarity levels and select the most suitable one for you.
Diamond grading professionals use a scale with nine levels of clarity divided into 6 groups:
FL - Flawless
IF - Internally flawless
VVS1 & VVS2 - Very, very slightly included
VS1 & VS2 - Very slightly included
SI1 & SI2 - Slightly included
I1 & I2 - Included
There is no great visible difference between a VVS1-level fancy pink diamond and its VVS2-level counterpart, and the impact on the price is equally minimal. But when moving between level groups, such as between VVS and VS and SI, the differences in prices increase significantly.
Choosing a diamond with a low level of clarity may be lucrative due to the relatively low cost for such a rare stone. However, it is recommended to choose a level of clarity with flaws that the human eye can’t detect in order to ensure the magical shine and penetration of light.
3. Cut - when considering this parameter, we naturally tend to think of the shape of the diamond, though the cut is actually a much more complex factor. Diamond's cut reflecting the way the diamond polisher shaped the diamond into the rough crystal, and the quality of the diamond’s cut, polish, and symmetry as ahigh, medium, or low grading. An excellent cut of a fancy colored diamond will highlight its colors, create hypnotizing reflections of light, and do everything to emphasize its advantages and increase its value.
Since a good cut makes the diamond look amazing, select your preferred grading based on the look of the diamond. However, it would be a shame to settle for a lower grade cut that lacks symmetry or shine and doesn’t flatter the everlasting diamond that you or your loved one will keep and cherish for life.
Another parameter worth considering when choosing the perfect pink diamond for you is the distribution of color in the diamond. As the diamond crystal forms in a long chemical process spanning over many years, sometimes concentrations of colors are formed unevenly in various areas of the diamond. Naturally, an even distribution of color in a diamond yields a deeper and stronger color. This distribution is graded by only two categories: Even & Uneven.
How rare are pink diamonds?
Natural pink diamonds are extremely rare and therefore very expensive. In fact, until recently there was a real concern that the supply of pink diamonds in mines is running low. But thanks to the opening of a new mine in Western Australia, those fears were put aside, at least until 2020. Nevertheless, the process of finding sellable pink diamonds is so slow that for every million carats of rough diamonds mined, there is only 1 carat of sellable fancy pink diamond.
As mentioned in the previous section on mines, the Argyle mine is the world's main supplier of pink diamonds, with a modest annual sum of 40-50 carats, which are then sold in an auction. According to data released by RIO TINTO, owner of the Argyle mine, the fancy pink diamonds prices range from $1,000 to more than a million dollars per carat.
All this and more make pink diamonds highly desirable and popular among collectors who wish to own the rarest and most unique diamonds in their collections, and investors seeking for opportunities to invest their money in a rare asset with a high and stable value which increase with time. Fancy pink diamonds allows them to do so magnificently.
Particularly rare pink diamonds have been sold in recent years for exorbitant prices to collectors who couldn’t resist the stone’s beauty and charm. For example, at an auction in 2010 Laurence Graff, a London jeweler with a weakness for rare and beautiful stones, purchased a Fancy intense pink diamond, emerald cut, weighing 24.78 carat, for a record price of $45.6 million. The press release headlines said: "This is the most wonderful diamond I've seen in my entire career".
Pink diamonds with GIA certificate
One of the critical conditions for a successful purchase of a natural pink diamond is finding a reliable source that backs the diamond with an original certificate from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the recognized, reliable, and most rigid authority for examining diamonds. That is probably the first and most important piece of advice you will get from any professional diamond expert.
Astteria boasts a high-quality variety of natural pink diamonds backed by original certificates from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), which were issued for each of the diamonds and list their characteristics and precise details.
This is particularly important because today there are ways to create artificial pink diamonds that are less rare and considerably cheaper than natural diamonds. Therefore, it’s highly important to obtain a reliable document that confirms the diamond’s naturalness and authenticity and lists its characteristics.
When a customer buys a diamond backed by a certificate issued by the GIA, he can be sure that the specifications and parameters that informed his purchase are true and correct. This is especially valuable when it comes to rare stones such as pink diamonds.
The meaning of the pink diamond’s color
Pink is a delicate and lovely color that primarily represents love, romance, and femininity; its light shades representing softness and its darker shades representing passion and energy. What’s certain is that a diamond of this color is a perfect gift for any woman who is truly loved. The color pink we see in nature on the cherry blossoms and rose bushes in the springtime instill a sense of calmness, compassion, and innocence. The color pink represents unconditional love, such that doesn’t ask for anything in return and of course - true friendship and deep solidarity. In the spiritual world, the color pink symbolizes balance between the spiritual and the physical, and is soothing our mental and emotional turmoil. The unique features of this beautiful romantic color make pink diamonds the perfect stone for embedding into jewelry and engagement rings.
Fancy pink diamond engagement ring: An expression of rare and unusual love
Fancy Pink diamonds rings symbolize, above all, the rarity and value of love sealed with an engagement ring boasting such a mesmerizing and stunningly beautiful diamond. When you choose pink diamond for your engagement ring you basically say that love and romance is above all.
With such a powerful statement, no wonder that some of the most famous stars have chosen to declare the rarity of their own love with a pink-diamond engagement ring. Among them are David Beckham, who gave his beloved Victoria an engagement ring (one of 13) with a pink diamond; Ben Affleck, who thought his love for Jennifer Lopez will last forever and adorned her finger with a 6-carat pink diamond engagement ring; and many others who received powerful declarations of love through pink diamonds such as Mariah Carey, Anna Kournikova, Kate Bosworth, Blake Lively, and more. The pink diamond crown jewel was of course given to the one and only, Queen of England, though not as an engagement ring but rather a jacket Brooch specially designed for her by Cartier and including a breathtaking 23.6-carat pink diamond.
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