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The huge rough stone, found by the resources giant
Rio Tinto at its Argyle mine in the Kimberley region, has
been named the Argyle Pink Jubilee and is worth at least ?7
million. The Argyle Pink Jubilee will be polished and cut in
Perth over the next ten days and then sold later this year
after being shown around the world.
It is a light pink diamond, similar in
colour to the 24-carat diamond The Williamson Pink, which
Queen Elizabeth II had set into a Cartier brooch for her
coronation after receiving it as a wedding gift. The
Williamson was discovered in Tanzania in 1947 and is ranked
among the finest pink diamonds in existence.
A Rio Tinto spokesman said 90 per cent
of the pink diamonds in the world come from the Argyle mine
but the new gem was "unprecedented".
"It has taken 26 years of Argyle
production to unearth this stone and we may never see one
like this again," said the spokesperson.
In 2010, a rare 24.78-carat pink diamond was sold
for a record-breaking ?29 million, the highest price ever
paid for a jewel. It was sold to a British dealer at an
auction in Geneva after being held in a private collection
for 60 years.
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