Filed under: jewelry
Rio Tinto pink tender underway
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August 25, 2008
Antwerp, Belgium—The 24th annual Rio Tinto Argyle Pink Diamond Tender got underway last week in Australia, and will continue through Oct. 2 in cities all around the globe.
According to a release from Rio Tinto, the pink tender started Aug. 21-22 in Perth, Australia.
Next stop for the sale is New York, where it will be held from Sept. 2-5.
Other tenders are slated for London (Sept. 9-11), Hong Kong (Sept. 15-20), Tokyo (Sept. 24-26) and Sydney (Oct. 1-2.)
A total of 65 pink diamonds from Australia’s Argyle mine are up for grabs in the sale, including, for the first time in seven years, a heart-shaped pink diamond.
Also available in the tender are a number of purplish reds—including a 1.01-carat round named Aphrodite, after the Greek goddess of love—intense and vivid pinks, and three rare violets, such as the 1.41-carat Ocean Seer.
The tender totals 62.46 carats of diamonds in all, with 30 diamonds larger than 1 carat.
Attendance at Rio Tinto pink tenders is restricted to about 100 clients worldwide, who personally inspect the stones at undisclosed locations in Sydney, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, New York or Perth.
For security purposes, equal the bidders don’t know where the auctions will be held until the last minute.
Bids are confidential, and the names of the successful bidders and the amount of their winning bids are not publicly disclosed.
Winners are notified personally in October.