Photo by IGS Creative
“Argyle Violet” from L. J. West Diamonds. The 9.17-carat rough for this 2.83-carat Fancy Deep grayish bluish violet diamond was discovered in 2015 at the Argyle Diamond Mine.
Never before had a diamond of this color and significant size been discovered in Australia.
According to Emmanuel Fritsch in the Nature of Diamonds, violet is a relatively recent term and it is used only for extremely rare stones, all of them hydrogen-rich diamonds from the Argyle mine in Australia.
Now that the Argyle mine has closed, violet stones will likely be the rarest color diamonds on the market.
This photo is by IGS Creative and is on the inside front cover of my Diamond Handbook.
Guest articles by Renée Newman:
https://gem-spectrum.com/category/renee-newman
About the author:
Renée Newman is a gemologist (GG, GIA), lecturer, writer and author of 15 books on gems and jewelry. Her goal is to provide consumers and jewelry professionals with unbiased, affordable information on how to buy, evaluate and appreciate gems and jewelry. She can be reached through her website:
