083 Delve Deep for true blue Pinks

If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, what are a girl’s best diamonds?

If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, what are a girl’s best diamonds? Pink ones, it seems – which would explain their cost. Regarded as the world’s rarest and most valuable diamonds, these true blue (er, pink) beauties are mainly found in WA’s Kimberley region, and are mined by the Argyle Diamond Company.

The largest producer of diamonds worldwide, the company excavates, on average, around 35 million carats (7000kg) annually, or about a third of the world’s diamonds. Only something like .01 percent are pink, but they’re startling, ranging from a very intense purplish pink to the merest blush, like pink champagne.

Diamonds may also be blue and yellow and Argyle produces a vast quantity of “brown” diamonds, which once proved harder to sell than the clear sparklers. Enter the spin-doctor ad-men and suddenly “champagne” and “cognac” diamonds were on every woman’s wish list.

Argyle pink diamonds have become legendary in the last couple of decades. One buyer paid $1.5m at a Christie’s auction in New York in 1989 for a 3.14 carat Argyle pink, although this may not be the most valuable one. It’s said that, privately, Argyle has sold pink diamonds for up to $1 million per carat. Start saving, guys!

Where // The Argyle Mine is inland from Kununurra in WA’s far north Kimberley. Mine tours are available. www.argylediamonds.com.au

Did you know? // The diamonds found at the Argyle pipe have been dated to be about 1.58 billion years old.