“Diamond mines are not forever — not even the world’s most productive.” Vicky Victoria writes in the New York Times.
Pink diamonds have held a special place in the world of jewelry and desire, from the fictional and iconic Pink Panther that had an entire movie franchise dedicated to it, to the “Pink Star” that sold for a record-setting $71.2 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in April 2017.
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Sotheby's "Pink Star."
Already rare and expensive, pink diamonds are about to get a lot scarcer due to the closure of the famed Argyle Mine at the end of 2020. After 23 years as the main supplier of the world's pink diamonds, the mine closed for good. After mining more than 865 million carats of rough diamond since 1983, the mine had run dry. The Argyle Mine was the world’s leading supplier of pink and brown diamonds, and provided 90 percent of the world’s exceedingly rare & valuable pink diamond supply. The closure of the Argyle mine doesn’t just affect pink diamonds, the mine was also celebrated for its massive amounts of lower quality brownish diamonds. That means that not only are pink diamonds going to get more expensive in the coming years, lower-end jewelry that uses brownish diamonds will also get more expensive, or at least just less accessible.
Already rare and expensive, pink diamonds are about to get a lot scarcer due to the closure of the famed Argyle Mine at the end of 2020. After 23 years as the main supplier of the world's pink diamonds, the mine closed for good. After mining more than 865 million carats of rough diamond since 1983, the mine had run dry. The Argyle Mine was the world’s leading supplier of pink and brown diamonds, and provided 90 percent of the world’s exceedingly rare & valuable pink diamond supply. The closure of the Argyle mine doesn’t just affect pink diamonds, the mine was also celebrated for its massive amounts of lower quality brownish diamonds. That means that not only are pink diamonds going to get more expensive in the coming years, lower-end jewelry that uses brownish diamonds will also get more expensive, or at least just less accessible.
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As Victoria wrote in her New York Times article, the closing prompts the conversation, what does the future of natural diamonds look like? At Heirloom Revival, we think about this often, knowing the last diamond will be mined in our lifetimes. Many are flocking to lab-grown diamonds as the technology has greatly improved... check out our blog post on lab-grown diamonds to hear our thoughts on lab-grown diamonds.
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But we have another solution: let’s mine your jewelry box! It is estimated that the world’s largest jewelry mine is sitting in US homes. Why worry about mine closures when we can just look to our jewelry boxes? Making jewelry with the recycled materials we already have is the most sustainable way to create. As more mines close and the last diamonds are mined during our lifetimes, the jewelry industry and its consumers will be faced with a major choice: recycle the precious materials we already have or use fake substitutes. But why wait until then when you can start recycling now? Heirloom Revival is here to help you make the most of what you already own, it’s good for the environment and good for you. Let’s get to work.
Start your revival.