A special collection of exceptional pink, red, violet and yellow diamonds is headlining Rio Tinto’s 2024 Beyond Rare^TM Tender scheduled for November.

The tender, which is the second in Rio Tinto’s Art Series offering, showcases 48 lots of extraordinary and highly coveted fancy colour diamonds, some of which were unearthed from the celebrated Argyle Diamond Mine, which closed in 2020.

Entitled “Colour Awakened,” this collection is top-billed by seven “Old Masters,” which comprise seven round brilliant cut, pink and red diamonds, ranging in size from 0.60 carat to 2.63 carats. All recovered from the Argyle mine over a decade ago – in one case, as far back as 1987 – each diamond has been carefully retrieved from private vaults and handpicked for inclusion in this year’s tender.

Sinead Kaufman, chief executive of Rio Tinto Minerals, remarked, “No other mining company in the world has custody of such a kaleidoscope of fancy colour diamonds. Four years on from the closure of the Argyle mine, our Beyond Rare Tender platform is a testimony to the enduring prestige of the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand, the quality of production from our Diavik mine, and the ongoing demand for highly collectible natural diamonds.”

In addition to the Old Masters, the Art Series 02 includes legacy inventory of pink, red and violet diamonds from Argyle, together with white and yellow diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

In total, 76 diamonds weighing 39.44 carats will be on offer, comprising: Seven Old Masters, including one fancy red diamond; 32 exquisite single lots of pink and violet diamonds, including one fancy purplish red diamond; and a rarefied offering of nine carefully curated diamond sets, two sets including a 2.47-carat fancy intense yellow diamond and a 4.04-carat D-colour diamond respectively, each from Diavik.

The 48 lots will be showcased in London, Australia, Singapore and Belgium, with bids closing on November 18, 2024.