A 22.53-carat rough diamond sourced from Canada’s Diavik mine is one of the stones that will headline Rio Tinto’s ‘Specials’ tender.
Named after the Titan goddess of the Moon, Diavik Selene is one of 26 diamonds greater than 20 carats that will be previewed in Antwerp throughout the first half of this month.
In addition to Diavik, the Specials tender showcases the finest large rough diamonds from a year’s production at Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Australia and Murowa in Zimbabwe. Stones greater than 10.8 carats qualify for the tender, which comprises 94 lots.
“This Specials tender showcases the unique portfolio of Rio Tinto’s diamonds from a beautiful array of natural fancy-coloured diamonds through to magnificent white crystals, and everything in between,” said Patrick Coppens, general manager of sales for Rio Tinto Diamonds.
Argyle’s contribution to the tender includes Athena, a rare 24.15-carat white diamond, along with a 15.4-carat yellow diamond and 20.19-carat cognac diamond.
Helios, a 35.41-carat fancy yellow diamond named after the Greek Titan of the Sun, leads Murowa’s contribution to the tender. Although Murowa is Rio’s youngest and smallest operating mine, it likely represents the highest value of Specials of the three operations, given its combination of colours, sizes, and qualities.
