For every 100,000 carats of flawless white diamonds mined, only one carat of colour diamond is found.

Colour diamonds are found occasionally in most of the world’s diamond mines but represent only a miniscule proportion of annual diamond production. Even from the famous Argyle Mine in Australia, which produces 95% of the world’s pink diamonds, less than 0.1% of the gems mined are rare pink diamonds. This geologically unique mine is slated for closure in 2018. As a result, the company has forecasted that pink diamonds shall become rarer and a key investment option.

Since the first diamonds were recovered from the mine, demand for these gems has attracted a cadre of elite and discrete buyers. The pink diamond jewellery market is now worth billions, sending prices skyrocketing.

Since 1990 quality natural colour diamonds have been appreciating at an average annual rate of 20%.

Twenty years ago a one carat Fancy Intense internally flawless pink diamond would have sold for approximately $70,000 a carat. Today that same diamond would be worth $500,000.

In May of 2008, a 3.73 carat Fancy Vivid blue diamond sold at a Christie’s auction in New York for USD $4.95 million or USD $1.3 million per carat, a world record price.

Pink natural colour diamonds are a rarity and highly desired amongst both connoisseurs and socialites.

KDC’s loose pink diamond collection is one of the finest in Canada, and is available internationally. Additionally, these exquisite diamonds can be handcrafted into individually designed pieces, specifically to your tastes
and desires, ensuring your rare diamond is displayed in a completely unique fashion.

Celebrities In The Pink

Pink diamonds were thrust onto the world stage when celebrity Jennifer Lopez dangled a stunning 6 carat pink diamond engagement ring given to her by actor Ben Affleck. Although the Lopez/Affleck romance soon faded, pink diamonds quickly became one of the most sought after diamonds by those in the limelight.

UK celebrity Victoria Beckham, model Helena Christiansen, and actress Salma Hayek have all worn pink diamonds to red-carpet events. Even Britney Spears has donned pink diamonds, in the form of belly-chains, while singer/actress Beyonce Knowles was adorned with a pink diamond necklace in the most recent film version of one of the most famous fictional pink diamonds, the Pink Panther.

With a colour range that includes amber, gold and ochre, the yellow diamond is increasing in popularity each year, exuding elegance, sophistication and glamour. From pale and understated to Vivid and Intense, yellow natural colour diamonds reflect confidence, intelligence and worldly cache.

CELEBRITY FANS

Hillary Clinton wore her 4.23 carat “Kahn Canary” flawless diamond to President Bill Clinton’s Inaugural Ball. At the Academy Awards, Whoopi Goldberg wore an 80 carat, $5 million canary yellow diamond pendant while Julianne Moore wore a modest 7.52 carat Fancy Vivid yellow diamond. Designer Donatella Versace has been spotted sporting her yellow diamonds and supermodel Christy Turlington set her cushion-shaped yellow diamond in a navel ring. In the hit series, “Sex and the City,” the chic Samantha Jones character received a yellow diamond from her boyfriend after his indiscretion.

The Florentine diamond, a light yellow gem with slight green undertones and weighing almost 140 carats in the rough, has been missing for almost a century. Originally belonging to the Medicis, one of the most powerful families in Europe, it later adorned the crown of Emperor Francis I in 1743. When the Hapsburg Empire collapsed in 1918, the gem escaped to Switzerland with the royal family but has not been seen since.

The elemental colour of sea and sky are manifested in natural blue diamonds. The embodiment of tranquility and serenity, they express a calm gentleness and classic sophistication. Apart from red, blue diamonds are the rarest of all natural colour diamonds. The world’s only notable blue diamond producing mine is the Cullinan mine near Pretoria in South Africa. This mine produced the brilliant vivid blue, 27 carat Heart of Eternity, the largest diamond of the De Beers Millennium Jewels collection.

The blue colour in a natural blue diamond is caused by the presence of boron in the crystal. Blue diamonds have relatively high levels of boron but low levels of nitrogen. It is the interaction between these trace elements
that cause blue diamonds to exhibit their characteristic phosphorescence as well as imbuing some blue diamonds with the ability to conduct electricity.

Scientists have determined that all blue diamonds show red and green peaks in their phosphorescence spectrum, but the relative intensity of those peaks and the rate at which they decay varies from diamond to diamond. This allows scientists not only to recognize the difference between a genuine natural blue diamond and a synthetic blue diamond (the latter does not emit the same patterns), but can even indicate the origin of the stone.

The Hope Diamond is arguably the most famous diamond in the world. It is an extraordinary deep blue colour and weighs 45.52 carats. The Hope Diamond is phosphorescent and emits a strong red colour for several seconds after exposure to short wave ultra-violet light. It is now displayed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.

The 70 carat Idol’s Eye is the largest polished blue diamond known. It is a delicate blue in colour and was formerly referred to as “rosy blue.” Legends tell of the diamond once being set in a temple in Benghazi.

The Blue Magic diamond is a modified pear-shaped Fancy Vivid blue diamond weighing 12.02 carats and has been awarded the highest colour grade of Vivid by the Gemological Institute of America. The Blue Magic is to date the largest Vivid blue diamond to appear at auction, making it a highly rare and collectible gem.