An Afternoon with the Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff Diamonds

Gary Roskin's "Evening with the Blues" presentation at AGTA GemFair

Gary Roskin, one of the world’s leading gemologists as well as a longtime educator and writer, was one of 10 gem experts who examined and photographed the Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff diamonds—the most famous blue diamonds in the world—to determine whether their origins were the same.

The event took place Jan. 21, 2010, inside the “Blue Room” (the outer-room of the gems and minerals vault) of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Roskin documented the event and has been writing about it on his website, the Roskin Gem News Report, in series titled, “An Evening with the Blues.” More recently, he brought this story to life during a presentation at AGTA GemFair Tucson. Below are seven video excerpts from that presentation.

The Fairest Diamond of them All, the Argyle Pink

A 2.02 cts. Argyle Pink diamond. This round brilliant fancy vivid purplish pink diamond was the largest of the 55 Argyle Pink diamonds that were tendered in 2010. Photo by Gary Roskin

They come from the land “down under.” Their singular source is a mine in a barren patch of Northwestern Australia. They are the Argyle Pink diamonds, among the rarest and most beautiful gems in the world.

Each year, Rio Tinto’s Argyle Diamond Mine produces 20 to 25 million carats of gem quality diamonds. Out of that bounty a relative handful of diamonds are good enough to be called “Tender Stones.” “These diamonds represent the true needles in the haystack,” according to gemologist Gary Roskin, in his story about the Argyle Pinks.

These diamonds are prized because of their deep, rich pink colors, which range from a light pink to almost red. Each year the diamonds considered good enough for tender go on a world tour of major cities where a select group of dealers can view the diamonds and bid on them. The dealers place private bids on the diamonds they want and go home and wonder if their bid was too high or low.

In 2010, 55 diamonds, ranging from 0.49 cts. to 2.02 cts. went on tour. As usual, when the diamonds came to New York, Roskin was the only person to view and photograph the diamonds for publication. He wrote all about it on his website, The Roskin Gem News Report, and provided lots of pictures, like the one above. In addition, he interviews a bidder and another professional who is an expert on color diamonds who attended the tender. Read all about it here.