Every once in a while, something is discovered that leaves the world in awe. True, diamond news about extremely rare and valuable stones isn’t on the top of everyone's priority lists. But for some, finds like this are crucial!

Rio Tinto's Argyle diamond mine just announced the first stone, planned to be one of the highlights of the 2016 Argyle Tender, a remarkable 2.83 carat, oval shaped, violet diamond.
Read all about the Argyle diamond mine.

We have mentioned before, although the majority of the world believes that natural red diamonds are the rarest stones around, pure violet stones are just as infrequently found.

Needless to say, when the news of the 9.17 carat rough violet was found, the diamond world showed their excitement. But one can never know what the outcome of an amazing rough will be as the process of polishing a stone is actually a great risk. For example, a few years back in 2012, Argyle went wild about the discovery of a 12.76 rough pink diamond. Unfortunately, the stone was cracked while on the polishing wheel and millions of dollars we essentially flushed down the drain. Still a sight to see, that stone was eventually donated to the Smithsonian and sits on display as an incredible specimen. When this stone was completed and the results were final you can imagine the excitement Argyle had.

General Manager of Argyle sales, Patrick Coppens, said The Argyle Violet™ was "impossibly rare and limited by nature." The diamonds value has been estimated to sell anywhere between $2.5-5 million. The industries excitement about stones of this quality however is nothing new. When our 1.00 carat, Fancy Deep Violetish Blue stone was released, the find was spectacular that GIA wrote a special book about the stone.

GIA's Book on the 1.00 carat Fancy Deep Violetish Blue Oval Diamond