Pink diamond

Pink diamond is a type of diamond that has pink color. The source of their pink color is greatly debated in the gemological world but it is most commonly attributed to enormous additional pressure that these diamonds undergo during their formation.

Pink diamonds belong to a subcategory of diamonds called fancy color diamonds, the generic name for all diamonds that exhibit any sort of color. Pink diamonds range from flawless to included, just as do white diamonds. Several pink diamonds with internally flawless clarity have been discovered, but only one is known to be completely flawless, the Pink Star (which was shortly renamed the Pink Dream until it diverted to Sotheby's).

Origin of the pink color
Numerous theories have been posited as to how the pink is formed in pink diamonds. The prevailing theory is that the pink is caused when the diamond is subjected to enormous pressure during its formation. A similar theory is being tested on pink diamonds that originated in the Argyle Mine in Kimberley, Western Australia. This theory posits that a seismic shock propelled colorless diamonds to the surface and altered their molecular structure, causing them to appear pink.

Properties determining value

The same four basic parameters that govern the grading of all gemstones are used to grade pink diamonds–the four Cs of connoisseurship: color, clarity, cut and carat weight. Color is considered the absolute most important criterion in grading a pink diamond and determining its value. However, size is an important consideration in a pink diamond's value. The larger a pink diamond, and the better its color, the more valuable it will be.
One of the most famous pink diamonds is the Pink Star — at 59.60-carats, this type IIa diamond is the largest vivid pink diamond in the world. In 2014,  auction buyer was unable to pay the promised sum and was subsequently forced to default on its purchase. Among famous pink diamonds; the Daria-i-Noor is the largest pink diamond in the world, measured at 182 carats; together with the Noor-ul-Ain, it is the oldest known pink diamond, both belonging to the Iranian crown jewels.

Color
As with the color in all fancy color diamonds, the color in pink diamonds is assessed according to its hue, saturation and tone. The hue refers to the primary and secondary colors, the saturation refers to the distribution of color, and the tone refers to the darkness of the color. Pink diamonds can occur in hues ranging from brown-pink to purple-pink, although pink can also be a modifying color in other diamond colors. Brown, orange and purple are the only occurring secondary hues in pink diamonds although a pink diamond can exhibit both brown and orange overtones at the same time, making it a "brownish orangey pink" diamond. The ideal pink diamonds are generally considered to be those which exhibit pure pink color although purple-pink diamonds are generally very highly regarded as well. Generally speaking, a vivid pink diamond will be more valuable than a larger lighter pink diamond, although it is not always the case according to the Diamond Investment & Intelligence Center. 

Pink diamonds can occur in eight intensities, faint pink, very light pink, light pink, fancy light pink, fancy pink, fancy intense pink, fancy vivid pink, fancy deep/dark pink. Just like in all fancy color diamonds, the more vivid intensity pink diamonds are far rarer than the less vivid, which is in part why they demand a higher price. The same cause in nature which is the course of the pink in pink diamonds can be more or less concentrated depending on the specimen. That is why it is so rare to find the most concentrated diamonds in each color. There is no perfect consensus as to what defines each color intensity grade, even though the GIA keeps a master catalog of each diamond color. Therefore, each color intensity also has a subscale of 1-10. Within the industry, a diamond trader may call a diamond "fancy vivid" or "fancy intense" but will often also call the diamond "a 7" or whichever number is most apropos to the diamond's appearance, which enables the most thorough representation of the diamond's color intensity.

Pink diamonds fall under the category of Type IIa diamonds, meaning that they form under remarkably high pressure for longer time periods, and tend to have an irregular shape. They have no visible absorption, no nitrogen impurities that may cause a yellow or brown tint.
The Argyle Mine, the world's current main source for pink diamonds, has developed their own pink diamond color classification system separate from that of the GIA. Instead of intensity, the color is divided into a scale from 1-9, 9 being the lightest and 1 being the darkest. However, Argyle pink diamonds still receive GIA certificates.

Clarity
All diamonds are examined under a loupe to determine their clarity. This 10x magnification determines whether or not the diamond exhibits inclusions either on its surface or inside. Like all diamonds, pink diamond clarity is measured on a scale from Flawless to Included. Only 7% of pink diamonds are either Flawless or Internally Flawless (IF), and majority are Slightly Included (SI).  Like most of the colors of fancy color diamonds, the clarity has little effect on a pink diamond's value. Since pink diamonds are formed by a deformation on their lattice structure, their probability of a low clarity grade is higher, making high clarity pink diamonds extremely rare (<7%).

Fluorescence
According to the GIA, more than 80% of pink diamonds display fluorescence. It is so rare for a pink diamond not to have fluorescence that in the case of pink diamonds, one that does not display fluorescence will actually be priced lower than one that does, out of suspicion that the diamond may be fake.

Lab grown pink diamonds
A lab grown diamond is chemically the same as a mined diamond but its value is proportionally lower. Therefore, a lab grown pink diamond does not have the value of a natural pink diamond. Currently the only successful method to grow an artificial pink diamond is the chemical vapor deposition method (CVD). A gem quality CVD pink diamond undergoes a process where a colorless diamond has an imperfection introduced into the diamond's lattice structure.

Pink diamond source mines
Pink diamonds have been found in Brazil, Russia, Siberia, South Africa, Tanzania and Canada. Pink diamonds were first discovered in India, in the Kollur mine in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh (which at the time was part of the Golconda kingdom), one of two of the earliest known diamonds are thought to have originated. Concurrently, and throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, pink diamonds were being discovered in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil. Pink diamonds are still occasionally found in the Golconda mine and in Brazil but to date, 80% of the world's pink diamonds now originate from the Argyle mine in Kimberley, Western Australia. Out of the mine's 20 million carat annual output, only 0.1% are classified as pink diamonds. After the diamonds are polished, the total carats of pink diamonds becomes smaller still. This makes pink diamonds not only rare but also difficult to obtain, as all interested buyers of pink diamonds around the world are consequently fixed on Argyle pink diamonds.

Pink diamonds in popular culture
The earliest known pink diamonds are the Daria-i-noor and the Noor-ul-ain diamonds which are both part of the Iranian crown jewels.

In 1947, Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, received a 23.6-carat pink diamond from Canadian geologist Dr. John Williamson, who had it set as a brooch designed as a jonquil by Cartier, and which remains one of her favorites. 

A pink diamond called Pink Panther, the largest in the world, is the MacGuffin of the 1963 film of the same name.

In 2002, when Ben Affleck proposed to Jennifer Lopez with a 6.1-carat pink diamond engagement ring. This catapulted pink diamonds into the popular mindset, triggering an immense surge in pink diamond prices that still exists today.

An enormous pink diamond was one of the central focuses in the 2006 film Blood Diamond, surrounded by the depictions of conflict diamonds mined and sold to fund civil wars and diamond companies.  

The popularity of pink diamonds rose in November 2013, when the 59.6-carat Pink Star diamond was bid on at auction in Geneva for $83 million by New York diamond cutter Isaac Wolf, then renamed the Pink Dream. Wolf ultimately defaulted, creating a scandal in the fancy color diamond world, forcing auctioneer Sotheby's to pay the owners the promised sum. 

On 3 April 2017, Southeby's again auctioned the Pink Star, in Hong Kong, which sold to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for a record 71.2 million USD (553 million Hong Kong dollars, including fees).

Prior to Southeby's Pink Star diamond sale, the record price paid for a pink diamond was held by the 16.08 carat Sweet Josephine Diamond, which had sold to Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau, in 2015, for $28.5 million. (One day later, he also purchased the 12.03 carat Blue Moon of Josephine Diamond for $48.5 million. Both diamonds were bought as gifts for his daughter, Josephine, born in 2008, as was the 7.03-carat Blue Moon diamond, which he renamed the Star of Josephine diamond, purchased in 2009 for $9.5 million.)

An anthropomorphic diamond known as Pink Diamond is a member of the Great Diamond Authority in Steven Universe, which depicts the fallout of her death and the mystery behind it.

Notable pink diamonds

Gallery

See also

List of minerals
Diamonds as an investment
List of diamonds

References

Further reading

 Hofer S.C. (1998). “Collecting and Classifying Colored Diamonds: An Illustrated Study of the Aurora Collection” New York: Ashland Press. 
 Liddicoat, R.T. (1993). “The GIA Diamond Dictionary” Santa Monica, CA: Gemological Institute of America. 
 Rachminov, Eden (2009). “The Fancy Color Diamond Book: Facts and Secrets of Trading in Rarities” New York: Diamond Odyssey. 

Category:Diamond colors