Leonardo Di Caprio risked his life to recover a rare pink gem in the movie "Blood Diamond." But did you know that colored diamonds really do exist? In Australia, an extremely rare violet diamond was unearthed in the Argyle mine.
The Argyle mine provides 90 percent of the world's pink and red diamonds according to a report. However, it is not clear how a rare violet-colored diamond was able to form within the mine.
Discovery announced that the rare gem will be showcased soon a of Rio Tinto's annual pink diamonds showcase. Although it was unearthed in 2015, the rare violet diamond's public debut will only happen this year. It is considered as one of the rarest gems found on Earth.
In the same report, it was stated that the violet diamond originally weighed 9.17 when it was unearthed. It was then carved and polished to a 2.83 carat, oval-shaped diamond.
"Impossibly rare and limited by nature, the Argyle Violet will be highly sought after for its beauty, size and provenance," Rio Tinto Diamonds general manager of sales, Patrick Coppens said.
Although there are no direct valuation for the price of the "fancy deep grayish bluish violet" extremely rare diamond, the usual price of diamonds on the exhibit costs as much as $1-2 million per carat. It is then safe to assume that two carats of the gem can amount to anything not less than $4million.
Diamond expert and mining giant, Rio Tinto added that rare violet diamonds are very hard to find, in their experience, there were only 12 carats of this type of diamond to be produced in 32 years.
Diamond connoisseurs and jewelry makers are sure to go after the extremely rare violet diamond, not just because of this rarity but also due to its fascinating beauty.
"This stunning violet diamond will capture the imagination of the world's leading collectors and connoisseurs," Argyle pink diamonds manager Josephine Johnson said in an interview.