Cartier: A Magnificent Very Light Pink 8.62 Carat Diamond Necklace

An exceptionally rare pink diamond necklace signed and numbered by Cartier is being offered for sale with an estimate of £150,000-200,000 (plus buyer’s premium) in The Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on Saturday 15^th March.

The 8.62 carat diamond was purchased 25 years ago as a birthday gift and has since formed part of a wider private collection. When first inspected, Tennants’ Jewellery Specialist Jessica Fall thought there could potentially be some colouration in the diamond which was worthy of further investigation.  After consultation with the diamond industry’s official grading body, the Gemmological Institution of America (GIA) the gem was officially graded as very light pink with a clarity grading of VVS1 which is defined as ‘just below flawless: of high clarity’. The authentication by the GIA will increase consumer confidence and significantly increase the diamond’s potential value. The diamond is currently presented as a necklace with a simple white claw setting, which is detachable from a pendant mount, potentially allowing for varied use. 

Jessica said: “Pink diamonds are officially defined as ‘exceptionally rare’; some estimates suggest as few as one in 10,000 gem quality diamonds mined worldwide show any discernible colour. Of that small number, a similar percentage (approximately 0.01%) have a pink tone. We are therefore delighted to be presenting such a unique and interesting piece for sale”.

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Historically, pink diamonds have largely been discovered in mines in India, South Africa, Tanzania and Borneo.  Most recently, (the latter part of the 20^th century into the early 21^st century) the most prolific producer of pink diamonds in the world was the Argyle mine in Australia. Only 1 in 90,000 diamonds mined there tended to be of gem quality pink colour. Furthermore, Argyle diamonds tend to be in the lower clarity range.

In technical terms, how coloured diamonds are formed varies depending upon the colour. Some diamonds obtain their colour from plastic deformation. This is caused by dislocations in the diamond structure, which happens when the diamond is deep within the Earth, under great pressure, and subject to very high temperatures, when atoms are more mobile. The word plastic indicates that this deformation is permanent. This structural anomaly allows free bonds to react with light, and cause absorption in the blue end of the light spectrum, which can create a brown colour. In pink and red diamonds, the phenomenon is not yet fully understood, and it is possible that the plastic deformation occurs in combination with another impurity, or defect, to create these incredibly rare colours.

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