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SourcingAug 23, 2019
Alrosa’s ‘Spirit of the Rose’ Could Sell for $60M+
The 14.83-carat fancy vivid purple-pink was cut from a nearly 28-carat rough diamond unearthed in 2017.
Alrosa cut the 14.83-carat “Spirit of the Rose” diamond from a 27.85-carat chunk of rough unearthed in 2017. It is a fancy vivid purple-pink with IF clarity, excellent polish and very good symmetry.
Moscow—It is a diamond that will hold records in Russia for a long time.
The “Spirit of the Rose” is a 14.83-carat fancy vivid purple-pink diamond cut from the largest piece of pink rough ever mined in Russia.
It is the biggest natural colored diamond classified as a fancy vivid purple-pink ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America.
And it is expected to sell for $60 million or more when Alrosa puts it up for auction, making it the most expensive Russian diamond in history.
Colored diamond expert Eden Rachminov called the Rose “an iconic Russian gem.”
“A large fancy vivid purple-pink, internally flawless, with perfect visual characteristics such as this one enters the market literally once in a generation. The stone has the most desirable pink undertone dispersed perfectly and looks much bigger in relation to its actual weight,” he said. “Its beauty overcomes the important pink diamonds sold at auction in the last decade … I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to hold this pink wonder in my hands.” 
The genesis of the Spirit of the Rose was a 27.85-carat rough diamond mined by Alrosa subsidiary Almazy Anabara in 2017.
Almazy Anabara mines 16 alluvial deposits in the very north of Yakutia, a vast republic in far eastern Russia where winter temperatures regularly average about 35 degrees below zero.
The geological structure of the deposits there make Almazy Anabara the company’s top producer of colored diamonds, a market in which Alrosa is looking to claim a larger stake with sales of not just rough but finished diamonds that are cut and polished in Russia.
The miner held its first auction of polished natural colored diamonds last September.
The Spirit of the Rose, which has its own website, is one of three outstanding colored diamonds the company will be selling as part of a collection called “The Spectacle.”
The Spectacle also includes “Firebird,” a 20.69-carat fancy vivid yellow, and a third stone that has yet to be revealed.
The Firebird was cut in Russia from a 34.17-carat yellow rough diamond (pictured above) also recovered by Almazy Anabara in 2017.
The stones made National Jeweler’s “Best of” list for the year, sharing the title of “Best Diamond Discovery.”
Alrosa cut the Spirit of the Rose at its factory in Moscow, taking a year to determine exactly how it wanted to cleave the nearly 28-carat pink rough.
Eventually, the company’s cutters opted for an oval shape in order to maximize the stone’s color while retaining as much of its size as possible. (The yield on the rough was about 53 percent, which Alrosa said was “optimal.”)
The company said it is currently considering the terms and conditions for the auction of the diamond and plans to announce more details on where and when it will be sold next month.
Alrosa cut the Spirit of the Rose at its factory in Moscow, taking a year to determine exactly how it wanted to cleave the nearly 28-carat pink rough.
Eventually, the company’s cutters opted for an oval shape in order to maximize the stone’s color while retaining as much of its size as possible. (The yield on the rough was about 53 percent, which Alrosa said was “optimal.”)
The company said it is currently considering the terms and conditions for the auction of the diamond and plans to announce more details on where and when it will be sold next month.
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