A Look Back At The Fancy Colored Diamonds Best Known ‘Home’

With The Closure Of The Argyle Mine…

What’s Next For Pink Diamond Jewelry?

If you have ever read or researched anything about pink diamonds and pink diamond jewelry, even casually, you are no doubt aware that the vast majority of the world’s current supply of these stunning stones was mined from the Argyle Mine in Western Australia.

However, all diamond mines inevitably “burn out,” despite holding such a vital role within the diamond industry and the investment sector, and, sadly, the Argyle mine is no exception.

Diamonds in general, and that includes the fancy-colored gems used to create pink diamond jewelry, are thousands of years in the making. They do not replenish themselves, and given that scientists and gemologists still disagree, to a certain extent, about just why pink diamonds are pink, their supply was always going to be finite.

The History of the Argyle Mine

Established in West Australia’s Kimberly region, the Argyle mine began open pit mining operations in December 1985. Although, relative to the global average, the diamonds originally found were of a lower value, the mine offered huge volume and the precious stones had a grade whose richness would eventually rewrite geological textbooks.

As the mining activities progressed, Argyle gradually became the world’s fourth largest producer of diamonds by volume and contributes to about 90 percent of natural-colored diamonds even today. Including over 90% of the world’s supply of pink diamonds.