Japan’s First Lady Previews Rio Tinto’s Rare Pinks & Reds

Japan’s First Lady Previews 

Rio Tinto’s Rare Pinks & Reds

The inaugural visit of the First Lady of Japan, Mrs Akie Abe, at the invitation of the Western Australian Government was occasion enough for an early showcase of Rio Tinto’s iconic Argyle pink diamonds. 

In an exclusive preview for Mrs Abe, the 2014 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender collection, comprising around 50 of the rarest and most valuable pink diamonds in the world, were revealed. The diamonds are the finest of a year’s production from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. 

Among the fancy Pinks & Reds, Mrs Abe was the first to view the Argyle Toki™, a 1.59 carat Emerald cut Fancy Intense Purplish Pink.  The name, depicting the delicate pink underwings of a rare Japanese bird, symbolizes the importance of Japan as the premier export market for rare pink diamonds. 

Rio Tinto Diamonds managing director Jean-Marc Lieberherr said “We were delighted to welcome Mrs Abe and show her at first hand these beautiful gems, the pinnacle of Australia’s mineral wealth and symbolic of our enduring relationship with Japan.”

The importance of the Japanese market to the development of Rio Tinto’s rare pink diamond business over the past 30 years was reason enough to honor the First Lady with a private showing. The pink diamond jewellery phenomenon started in Japan in the late 1980s when Japanese designers boldly embraced Argyle’s pink diamonds and incorporated them in beautiful and innovative designs. Today Rio Tinto sells around 30 per cent of its Argyle pink diamonds into Japan where there is an unerring appetite for the smallest, palest pink diamonds, through to the rarest reds.

Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine produces virtually the entire world’s supply of rare pink diamonds. The 2014 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender collection will be officially launched in August and will tour the world until October. Around 150 collectors, connoisseurs and luxury jewellers are invited to place sealed bids on the diamonds. Prices for these diamonds can exceed US$1million per carat, hence their stature as “the most concentrated form of wealth on earth."

This year’s collection features a record 4 Red Diamonds and will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender.


About Argyle Pink Diamonds  Pink diamonds, produced at Rio Tinto’s Argyle Mine in Western Australia, are highly coveted as the world's most sought after gems. The Argyle Diamond Mine produces more than 90 per cent of the world's pink diamonds, which are sold in a broad range of colours and sizes to an international customer base.

The market for pink diamonds is quite separate to white diamonds, and due to their rarity, pink diamonds typically command prices far in excess of white diamonds. The best diamonds are reserved for the annual Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender. Rio Tinto's Argyle Pink Diamonds business is located in Perth, Western Australia, alongside its cutting and polishing factory.  Website: www.argylepinkdiamonds.com.au


About Rio Tinto Diamonds   Rio Tinto is one of the world's major diamond producers through its 100 per cent control of the Argyle mine in Australia, 60 per cent of the Diavik mine in Canada, a 78 per cent interest in the Murowa mine in Zimbabwe. These three mines allow Rio Tinto to produce diamonds for all market segments. Rio Tinto also has an advanced diamond project in India. Rio Tinto's share of the production from its three operating mines is sold through its Diamonds Sales and Marketing office in Antwerp, Belgium with representative offices in Mumbai, Hong Kong and New York. Rio Tinto Diamonds is a leading supporter of the Kimberley Process as well as a founding member of Responsible Jewellery Council.   www.riotinto.com

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Photos from the top - Argyle Cardinal Red - Argyle Toki - Argyle Rosette 

#JWLV - Rio Tinto's "Diamonds With A Story" Part 1 - the Glamour #LUXURY #JCK2013

One of the best bits of information, for me, to come out of LUXURY was the news that Rio Tinto would be retaining it's Diamond Companies, and has, in fact expanded on their "Diamonds With A Story" campaign.

According to it's description on JCK Marketplace: Rio Tinto is one of the world’s major diamond producers through our 100 per cent control of the Argyle mine in Australia, 60 per cent share of the Diavik mine in Canada, 78 per cent interest in the Murowa mine in Zimbabwe and 100% ownership of the Bunder Project in India.   All of our diamond operations are committed to making a positive contribution towards sustainable development, with our stewardship interest focused on the exploration, production and sales of rough diamonds.

A little recent history - Rio Tinto owns a majority stake in three major Diamond Mines - the most productive of which is the Argyle mine, famous for it's fancy brown, pink and red diamonds. Earlier this year, Rio Tinto announced that it would be selling off it's Diamond Division...then in a reversal they announced that it has decided to “retain its diamonds businesses after concluding a strategic review which considered a range of options, including potential divestment.”

In a quote from Anthony DeMarco's blog on Jewellery Net Asia:“The medium to long-term market fundamentals for diamonds remain robust, fuelled by growing demand for luxury goods in Asia and continuing strong demand in North America,” said Rio Tinto Diamonds & Minerals chief executive Alan Davies. “We have valuable, high-quality diamonds businesses that are well positioned to capitalise on the positive market outlook. After considering a number of alternative strategic ownership options it is clear the best path to generate maximum value for our shareholders is to retain these businesses.”

At the 2012 LUXURY show in Las Vegas, Rio Tinto introduced the "Diamonds With A Story" campaign in an effort to educate buyers, manufacturers, and consumers about the origins of Rio Tinto diamonds. Armed with information from a Shand Group research project, the company indicated that more than three quarters of consumers care about where their diamond is from and how it is mined.

“The four Cs are still important, however for today’s consumer we need to go further and explain the other layers which are the human, geological, and cultural histories wrapped up in every Rio Tinto diamond,” Jean-Marc Lieberherr, general manager for the sales and marketing of diamonds of Rio Tinto mines, said in a statement to JCK's Jennifer Heebner.

Carrying that product one step further - this year at LUXURY the mining giant introduced ...the rest of the story!

This year, in a statement to Centurion Editor Hedda Schupak, Bruno Sane, general manager of marketing for Rio Tinto Diamonds, said, "Diamonds With A Story is the umbrella signature of our global market development initiatives in both established and emerging markets. It is also recognizes that diamonds are not commodities, that every diamond has a story worth telling which consumers are keen to hear.”

Rebecca Foerster, US vice president at Rio Tinto Diamonds, talked about the new chapter of their campaign as "inspiration to the industry"...she explained that today's younger consumer isn't looking for the bling factor - they really want the "story" of their stone.

How does Rio Tinto seek to inspire? 

 ...four new, unique diamond stories—Shaped by Origin, Cutting Impact, Mixed Medium, and Color My World. 

Press and Designers gather in the Rio Tinto Booth at LUXURY - the four distinct new stories, visible above our heads

At their annual Press Event at LUXURY, they showed how these stories could inspire. Rio Tinto engaged 8 designers to address a specific story and those collections were for sale to Retailers attending the JCK and LUXURY events. 

According to Forester: . “The hope is that retailers will be interested in showcasing these collections in stores, since the designers brought the stories to life, and for others to be inspired to make their own beautiful jewelry based on these themes.”

The always charming and very competent hand orchestrating the many facets of this event was the Industry's favorite Spokeperson, Michael O'Connor. 

Using diamonds sourced from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Australia and Diavik mine in Canada these designer pieces were chosen because of their unique representation of the company's initiative.

Shaped By Origin concentrates on the origins of Rio Tinto's stones and the company's projects in the regions it mines - represented by designer Zoltan David's Dreamcatcher Collection, from the Aboriginal, Dreamtime. This very elegant tribal look of a blackened Stainless Steel open structure set with Argyle Diamonds on a rose gold backing the color of Australia's red earth, spoke to the Maori people, indigenous to Australia's Outback and the location of the Argyle Mine. 

Zoltan David was joined in this category by the effervescent Shelly Purdy, the designer is as sparkling as her Royal Collection utilizing Canadian Diamonds from Rio Tinto's Diavik mine...

...and Belgian company, Casa Gi, was represented in Las Vegas by Dennis Leemans.  This rugged, masculine collection will have every man wearing diamonds! 

Mixed Media this category really proved that these were NOT your Grandmother's Diamonds, presenting Diamonds in some of the many diverse media that Designers are creating in today!  Beautifully represented by Kara Ross of Kara Ross New York, LLC, her work with Diamonds in Concrete (the obviously diverse dichotomy of the materials represented the streets of New York) and in Wood was a collection of bold and forward thinking pieces.

Cutting Impact  plays up sustainability and ethical issues - emphasizing company projects in the regions it mines...this category was represented by Alexandra Hart's Pure Flight Collection...the designer's own blog features a 5 part write up of her journey with this collection.

....and Phyllis Bergman of Mercury Ring - as the co-founder of the Diamond Empowerment Fund, being chosen in this category is, I would imagine, dear to her heart.

Color My World is the heart and soul of the Argyle Diamonds - natural colored diamonds from this location range from champagne to cognac and pale pinks to reds...Rio Tinto mines have also produced Silvermist.   Representing color was Kristin Hanson whose Skyline Collection paid homage to the skyline of her home in New York.

 

Also in this category is the aptly named "Color Me Vivid"  Collection from Joan Park with its colorful and distinctly Bollywood feel - this was a very consumer friendly collection.

Rio Tinto hopes that retailers will not only purchase these lines for their stores but that these collections will inspire them to create their own "Stories".

Part Two of this story will cover the Mines - the presentation at LUXURY gave a rare glimpse into the actual mining process.

Rio Tinto Unveils Inaugural Bunder Diamond Jewelry

Reena Ahluwalia Designs 

'Courageous Spirit' Collection 

Rio Tinto Makes Indian Diamond History, 

Unveils Inaugural Bunder Diamond Jewelry

Mumbai, India, August 24, 2012 - Rio Tinto unveiled the inaugural Bunder diamond jewelry collection comprising diamonds from the sampling to date at its developing Bunder project in Madhya Pradesh. The Courageous Spirit jewelry collection holds a very special place in Indian diamond history as it has been at least a century since India has mined, designed and manufactured its own diamond jewelry," said Dr Nik Senapati, Managing Director of Rio Tinto India.

Madhya Pradesh-born designer, Reena Ahluwalia was commissioned to design the Courageous Spirit jewelry as a tribute to the women of Madhya Pradesh. 

“As a woman born and brought up in the region (Madhya Pradesh), creating this milestone collection is like coming a full circle. I am honoured to tell the Bunder story through my designs and be a part of this historic diamond moment,” commented Reena Ahluwalia, International Award Winning Designer.

The focus of the necklace is a stunning diamond-encrusted disc that symbolizes the natural abundance of the Bunder diamond deposit. Inspired by a compass, the disc rotates on a central axis, while a marker points to the true centre of the Bunder story - the earthly origins of the diamonds and the pioneering spirit of the people who are so integral to Bunder's development. The latitude and longitude coordinates of the Bunder diamond deposit are inscribed on the back of the disc.

Titled "Courageous Spirit", the jewelry features a magnificent statement necklace and a set of complementary earrings. The collection incorporates a total of 25.34 carats of polished Bunder diamonds and 2.8 carats of rough Bunder diamonds, including a 5.04 carat round brilliant cut white diamond and a 5.02 carat round brilliant cut cognac diamond.

Maintaining the important Indian pedigree of the collection, the rough diamonds have been carefully transformed by master craftsmen in Indian cutting and polishing factories, while the innovative design has been brought to life with designer Reena Ahluwalia by Indian jewelry manufacturer Uni-Design Jewellery Private Ltd - a Mumbai-based company with a reputation for exquisite craftsmanship. 

Rio Tinto partnered with Venus Jewel and Mahendra Brothers to cut and polish the stones. Guest of Honour at the event was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

 According to Bruce Cox, Managing Director of Rio Tinto Diamonds, "By harnessing the skill and creativity of India's respected diamond artisans, these magnificent jewelry pieces are symbolic of an important new chapter in the country's proud diamond history.

The Bunder project, likely to come into commercial production in 2016, presents enormous opportunities not only for the Madhya Pradesh region, but for the broader Indian diamond industry as well, with Rio Tinto presenting a unique opportunity for India to mine, manufacture and market its own diamonds."

The Courageous Spirit collection is not available for sale, but will be showcased at a number of events throughout the second half of 2012.

About the Bunder Diamond ProjectThe Bunder diamond project was discovered in 2004 by Rio Tinto and in 2010 a State Support Agreement was signed with Government of Madhya Pradesh as an endorsement of the mutual commitment to the development of the project. An Inferred Resource (the first quantifiable estimate of an ore-body) has been defined as 37 million tonnes, containing 27.4 million carats. The Government of Madhya Pradesh gave in principle approval to the issue of a mining lease for the Bunder project via a "Letter of Intent" in January 2012. Rio Tinto is now working on the mine plan, environmental and forestry approvals required to execute a Mining Lease. At least rupees 2200 crore (US$500M) will be required to fully develop the Bunder diamond project.Once developed the Bunder diamond mine is expected to place Madhya Pradesh in the top ten diamond producing regions of the world.

About Rio Tinto Diamonds
Rio Tinto operates a fully integrated diamonds business from exploration through to sales and marketing. It is one of the world's major diamond producers through its 100 per cent control of the Argyle mine in Australia, 60 per cent of the Diavik mine in Canada, 78 per cent interest in the Murowa mine in Zimbabwe and 100 per cent interest in the Bunder project in India.

Rio Tinto's share of the production from its three operating diamond mines is sold through its sales and marketing headquarters in Antwerp, with representative offices in Mumbai, Hong Kong and New York. It also operates a niche cutting and polishing factory in Perth for the rare pink diamonds from its Argyle mine. Rio Tinto is a leading supporter of the Kimberley Process, as well as a founding member of Responsible Jewellery Council. Website:www.riotintodiamonds.com

Photos: Rio Tinto Diamonds.