The Investment Case

One mine held nine tenths of the world's pink. It is closed.

Argyle produced most of the pink diamonds ever found. Now that it has stopped, the case is straightforward. A fixed and shrinking supply meets demand that keeps growing.

Where It Came From

Thirty-seven years, then nothing

Argyle sat in one of the most remote corners of Australia. Over its life it gave up more than 865 million carats of rough. Pink diamonds were roughly one percent of that, and the officially certified stones a small fraction again. Here is how the mine ran its course.

1979
The AK1 pipe is found in the remote East Kimberley of Western Australia, the first hard-rock diamond source of its kind.
1983
Alluvial mining begins along Smoke Creek, the first diamonds recovered from the Argyle field.
1985
Open-pit production starts. Argyle quickly becomes one of the largest diamond mines on earth by volume.
1994
Output peaks at around 42 million carats in a single year.
2013
The open pit is exhausted. Argyle moves fully underground to reach the last of the ore.
2020
On 3 November, after 37 years, the mine produces its final carats and closes for good.

Every Argyle pink diamond that exists today is all that will ever exist.

The Argyle legacy

Rarity, In Numbers

1.6bnYears in the makingFormed deep beneath the Kimberley more than a billion years ago

<1%Of output was rare colourAround 80% of Argyle rough was brown, not pink

32Red diamonds, everThe total unearthed across the mine's entire 37-year life

~150Tender stones thought to remainSold only to a small circle of invitation-only buyers

The Core Idea

Supply has a hard floor of zero new stones

Most commodities answer higher prices with more digging. Argyle cannot. The ore is gone and no comparable source has been found anywhere in the world. Every stone that sells, gets set into jewellery, or leaves the market for a private collection makes the remaining pool smaller.

That is what makes this different from gold or shares. You are not betting on a company or a mine reopening. You are holding a physical asset whose total number can only go one way.

865MCarats of rough, totalAcross the mine's whole life

~1%Of that was pink roughThe rest was mostly brown and near-colourless

0New carats since 2020No replacement source exists

The Numbers

Pink has led the coloured diamond market

Coloured diamonds are tracked by price index the same way equities are. Over the twenty years to 2025, pink has outperformed every other colour, and certified Argyle stones have run ahead of pink as a whole.

18.6%Average annual growthArgyle certified, long run

18-30%Per year since 2020After the mine closed

Value change 2005 to 2025, by colour

Argyle Certified Pink

+500%

Pink (all origins)

+393.5%

Blue

+242.4%

Fancy colour (all)

+205%

Yellow

+49.3%

Figures drawn from published coloured diamond price indices and are indicative. Certified Argyle stones vary by grade. Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns.

What The Top Of The Market Pays

The ceiling keeps rising

These are exceptional stones, well above where most portfolios begin. They matter because they set the reference point the whole market is measured against, and that point has climbed year after year.

StoneDetailSalePricePer carat

The Eternal Pink10.57ct Fancy Vivid Purplish PinkSotheby's New York, 2023US$34.8M~US$3.3M / ct

Williamson Pink Star11.15ct Fancy Vivid PinkSotheby's Hong Kong, 2022US$57.7M~US$5.2M / ct

The Argyle Phoenix1.56ct Fancy Red, ArgylePhillips Geneva, 2024US$4.2M~US$2.68M / ct

Public auction results. Individual results vary and are not typical of entry-level investment stones.

Where It Fits

A quiet corner of a balanced portfolio

Low correlation

Pink diamond values move on their own supply and demand, not on interest rate decisions or an earnings season, so they can steady a portfolio when other assets fall together.

Physical and portable

A meaningful sum fits in the palm of your hand. It sits outside the banking system and can be moved or stored discreetly.

A global market

Certified pink diamonds trade across borders through auction houses, dealers and collectors, which gives you real avenues to sell when the time comes.

SMSF eligible

Held in loose form, natural pink diamonds can sit inside a self-managed super fund, subject to the usual rules. See our SMSF page for the detail.

This is general information, not personal financial advice. Speak with a licensed adviser about whether pink diamonds suit your circumstances.

See what is available right now

We hold a private list of certified stones across grades and budgets. Tell us what you are looking for and we will send matches in confidence.

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