While the diamond market as a whole has been struggling with an overabundance of low-quality, synthetically manufactured stones, there still is plenty of interest in acquiring high-grade, top of the line diamonds.
This is especially true for those truly special discoveries of massive stones that sell for tens of millions of dollars. On Wednesday, a Russian diamond miner called Alrosa (MCX: ALRS) announced they would be showcasing a stunning 14.83-carat pink oval diamond that was recently found and polished to select viewers, representing another massive diamond find for 2019.
The stone goes by the name The Spirit of the Rose and will be displayed for a handful of viewers in New York over the coming weeks and is expected to be formally auctioned off sometime in November this year. So far, estimates are that the diamond could sell for up to $65 million.
This diamond also made news for being the largest of its kind ever found in Russian history, a nation which has a respectable history of diamond mining second only to perhaps South Africa. The “fancy, vivid” pink-purple stone was cut from a rough find back in 2017 at the Ebelyakh deposit in Yakutia. Before this discovery, the largest pink gem found came in at 3.86 carats, with The Spirit of the Rose being almost four times larger in comparison.
Over the past year, Alrosa has focused on boosting revenue not by competing with the oversaturated supply of synthetic, lab-produced diamonds that have flooded the market but rather by focusing on selling rare, coloured diamonds. While this isn’t a viable solution for other, larger diamond miners, it works for smaller companies such as Alrosa, where the demand for coloured gems remands stable, although it is a highly niche business.
According to analysts, the average price for pink, yellow, green, and blue stones has been rising consistently by 12 percent per year over the past few decades, backed by demand for the most exotic and unusual among ultra-rich consumers.
This also means that these stones are not as affected by other factors that are driving the supply and demand of normal diamonds. Most of the demand for polished coloured diamonds remains in control of larger companies like Rio Tinto and Anglo American’s De Beers, but smaller, regional companies like Alrosa are hot on their heels.
“The diamonds we are now exhibiting are completely unique, and each of them perfectly embodies the Russian art of gem cutting,” said Alrosa’s chief executive Yury Okoyemov back earlier this year. “We calculate that the huge potential of our coloured diamonds will very soon enable Alrosa to become the world’s leader in that market.”
Colored diamonds, with pink ones in particular, have been fetching top prices recently. Sotheby’s last set a record for any gem sold at an auction back in 2017, where it sold a 59.6 carat Pink Star to a Hon Kong-based jewelry for $71.2 million.
Until then, the most expensive coloured diamond was the “Oppenheimer Blue”, which sold for around $58 million in May 2016. As demand for these niche stones continues to remain strong, share prices for miners focusing on this specialized market are expected to continue to rise.