Origin of name
The 2.26-carat rare purplish-red diamond was acquired
recently by Laurence Graff, the owner of the internationally renowned
London-based jewelers and diamond dealers Graff Diamonds, at an
auction held in Geneva on Thursday, November 15, 2007. The diamond is as yet
unnamed, and until such time the diamond is given a name, we can refer to it
as the "Graff Purplish Red" diamond, like some other diamonds in his
collection as the "Graff Pink Supreme", the "Graff Vivid Yellow", "Graff
Imperial Blue" etc.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The diamond has a rare purplish-red color, and a weight
of 2.26 carats. The cut of the diamond is a brilliant-cut but the shape is
an unusual octagonal shape. The exact color and clarity grades of the
diamond are not known, but going by the photographs of the diamond its color
should be at least a fancy intense purplish-red.
In the list of some known red diamonds the Graff
Purplish-Red occupies the 4th position.
List of some known red
diamonds
|
S/N |
Name of Diamond |
Carat Weight |
Shape/Cut |
|
1 |
Moussaieff Red |
5.11 |
traingular-brilliant or trilliant |
|
2 |
The Red Diamond |
5.05 |
emerald |
|
3 |
De Young Red |
5.03 |
round brilliant |
|
4 |
Graff Purplish Red |
2.26 |
octagonal brilliant |
|
5 |
Unnamed Red |
1.92 |
|
|
6 |
Hancock Red |
0.95 |
round brilliant |
|
7 |
The Lady in Red |
0.54 |
round brilliant |
The "Graff Purplish-Red" diamond is a rare
structurally imperfect Type IIa diamond. Type IIa diamonds are free of all
impurities that can cause color in diamonds such as nitrogen, boron and
hydrogen. They are chemically pure diamonds that constitute about 1-2
% of all naturally occurring diamonds. Type IIa diamonds can be of three
sub-types :- a) Structurally perfect b) Structurally imperfect
c) naturally irradiated.
a) Structurally perfect :- These diamonds have
perfectly formed crystals without any plastic distortions. Being chemically
pure and structurally perfect, these diamonds are absolutely colorless
diamonds. D-color diamonds and perhaps E & F color diamonds belong to this
sub-type.
b) Structurally imperfect :- These diamonds have crystals
that have undergone plastic distortion, either during their formation in the
earth's mantle or subsequent rise to the earth's surface during volcanic
eruptions. The plastically distorted areas in the crystal change the
aborption spectrum of the diamond, causing rare fancy colors, such as red,
purple and pink, and also brown colors. Their occurrence however is
less than 0.1 % of all naturally occurring diamonds. The Graff Purplish-Red
diamond belongs to this sub-type.
c) Naturally irradiated :- These diamonds have been
exposed to natural radiation like alpha, beta and gamma radiation emanating
from naturally radioactive sources like uranium compounds, over long periods
of time. Radiation induces structural changes in the crystal, imparting a
rare green color to diamonds.
History
Nothing is known about the early history of the diamond,
such as the country and mine of origin, date of discovery, weight of rough
diamond, identity of the cutters of the diamond, original owner of the
diamond etc. South Africa and Brazil are two of the known sources of rare
red diamonds. Today Argyle diamond mines of Australia is also a known source
of the rare red diamonds. The 0.54-carat "The Lady in Red" diamond
originated in the Argyle diamond mines. The intense purplish-red color of
the "Graff Purplish-Red" diamond gives an indication as to its possible
source. Such intense purplish-red diamonds are characteristic of red
diamonds originating in Argyle diamond mines of Australia. But, the weight
2.26 carats does not conform to the size of the average fancy colored
diamonds discovered in these mines, which is usually less than 1.0 carat.
The largest red diamond
ever to appear at an auction
The diamond was set as the centerpiece of a ring of
unique floral design, with four surrounding petals set with several smaller
white diamonds. The diamond came up for sale at a Christie's bi-annual
magnificent jewels sale held in Geneva on Thursday, November 15th, 2007, and
had a pre-sale estimate of $ 1.5 million placed on it. The name of the
owners of the diamond was not revealed. It was said that the 2.26-carat
diamond was the largest red diamond ever to appear at an auction.
Highest price ever paid
for a red diamond at an auction
After a keenly contested bidding process the hammer was
brought down finally in favor of an anonymous buyer bidding by phone from
London, who seemed to be keen in acquiring the diamond at any cost. The
price achieved was a staggering 2.97 million Swiss francs, equivalent to US
$ 2,667,567, far above the pre-sale estimate of $ 1.5 million. This
represented the highest price ever paid for a red diamond at an auction. The
previous record for the highest price paid for a red diamond was set in year
2001, when a 1.92-carat red diamond was sold for $ 1.6 million.
Highest price per carat
paid for a red diamond at an auction
The price per carat achieved for the 2.26-carat
purplish-red diamond works out to $ 1,180,340. This sets a new world record
for the highest price per carat achieved for a red diamond at an auction.
The previous record for the highest price per carat paid for a red diamond
was held by the 0.95-carat Hancock Red diamond, which was sold in 1987, to
agents of the Sultan of Brunei, for $ 880,000 equivalent to $ 926,316 per
carat. However the highest price per carat paid for any diamond at an
auction is currently held by the unnamed 6.04-carat blue diamond which was
purchased by Moussaieff jewelers for $ 7.98 million at a Sotheby's auction
in Hong Kong on October 8, 2007. This works out to a record $ 1.32 million
per carat.
The anonymous buyer turns
out to be Laurence Graff - the King of Diamonds
It eventually turned out that the anonymous buyer who bid
from London was none other than the "King of Diamonds" Laurence Graff, who
is said to have handled more important diamonds than any other living
dealer. It was quite possible that he had a particular client in mind when
he made this record breaking bid. This client in all probability was the
Sultan of Brunei, the world's richest man in the eighties and nineties, to
whom Graff had been the main supplier of diamonds and high-end jewelry. It
is also well known that the Sultan of Brunei owns the world's largest
collection of colored diamonds. In fact in an interview granted to a British
newspaper, the Evening Standard on December 7th, 2007, Graff revealed for
the first time, that the foundation of his fortune was one huge client, the
Sultan of Brunei, one of the world's richest men, who is also a connoisseur
and collector of diamonds. The three wives of the 29th Sultan of Brunei have
fabulous collections of jewels and jewelry. The first wife who is officially
the Queen of Brunei is said to be the world's most gorgeously jeweled woman.
Most of this exquisitely crafted jewelry had been supplied by Laurence
Graff. Thus the secret of Laurence Graff's success had been undoubtedly the
patronage of the Sultan of Brunei and his three wives. Thanks to the Sultan,
Laurence Graff is today the 36th richest man in Britain, owning five luxury
homes in England, France, Switzerland and New York, a private jet that
reaches Tokyo from London non-stop, a Mediterranean yacht, his own diamond
mine outside Johannesburg, half a dozen properties in Mayfair, and a
clientele that includes several royal families around the world.
The rarity of occurrence
of red diamonds
Out of all fancy colored diamonds such as red, purple,
pink, blue, green. orange and yellow, red diamonds are the rarest in
occurrence. Within the last 20 years only three red diamonds had appeared in
diamond auctions worldwide. This is an indisputable statistical evidence for
the rarity of the red diamond. It is said that the number of diamonds
certified as red existing in the world today is less than 20. Thus seeing a
red diamond in public is an extremely rare event, let alone being available
for sale.
It is difficult to quantify the frequency of occurrence
of red diamonds in nature, but using the annual statistics of production of
fancy colored diamonds in the Argyle diamond mines in Western Australia, we
can arrive at a rough estimate. In the Argyle mines only one carat of pink
diamond is produced for every one million carats of rough diamonds. Thus the
probability of occurrence of pink diamonds is one in a million -
1/1,000,000. In one particular year the Argyle mines produced 60 pink
diamonds having an average size of one carat, out of which one diamond was
an intense purplish-red diamond. The probability of occurrence of red
diamonds out of the total production of pink diamonds is 1/60. Thus the
probability of occurrence of red diamonds out of the total annual production
of rough diamonds in the mine is equal to 1/60 x 1/1,000,000. This works out
to 1/60,000,000. Thus the chance or probability of finding a red diamond
is one in 60 million, equivalent to 0. 0000017 % !!!
The rarity of red diamonds seems to be combined with the
restricted size of the diamond. The world's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd largest red
diamonds the "Moussaieff Red", the "Red Diamond" and the "De Young Red"
weighs respectively 5.11 carats, 5.05 carats and 5.03 carats. In comparison
the world's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, largest colorless diamonds, the "Cullinan I",
the "Cullinan II" and the "Centenary" weighs respectively 530.20 carats,
317.40 carats, and 273.85 carats.
The combined characteristics of rarity and beauty make
red diamonds the most expensive of all diamonds in the world, and
explains the staggering price achieved by the 2.26-carat Graff's
purplish-red diamond, which is insignificant in terms of size. The Graff's
purplish-red diamond is insignificant in terms of size, yet it has the
potential of becoming one of the most famous diamonds in the world, just
because it is red, one of the rarest fancy colors in diamonds.
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