The journey of a rare diamond is often a peripatetic one and the story of the Purple Orchid is no different. Large purple diamonds don’t come along every day in fact they are only found in a few spots in the world. The Purple Orchid, for sale through fancy color diamond and color diamond jewelry company Leibish & Co. hails from South Africa. The owners of the diamond immediately spotted its potential and took the rough stone to the major diamond trading hubs to attract global interest. Leibish & Co. chief diamond buyer, Shmulik Polnauer flew to India to see the stone and bought the stone which was over four carats rough.
Next it fell to the cutters and polishers to turn nature’s creation into a facetted gem. The resulting stone is a a 3.37 carat Fancy Intense Pinkish Purple VS2 diamond in a cushion shape. The $4 Million diamond will be on display to the public for the first time at the upcoming September Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair.
Purple and pink diamonds are believed to be caused by intense heat and pressure during the formation of the stones which cause stone’s structure to absorb certain waves of the light spectrum but part of the allure of diamonds is the magic of their creation. “The cause of purple in diamonds remains a mystery, which only adds to the glamour and attractiveness of diamonds like these” said Leibish Polnauer, President of Leibish & Co. “There is currently a huge demand for luxury items that are different and stand out, not something that everyone already has. There is nothing more unique on the market right now than color diamonds, and this incredible purple diamond is more than a cut above the rest. There are very, very few diamonds on the market above 3 carats with Purple as the main color, which is what makes this exquisite diamond so rare.”
What is the future for the Purple Orchid? Will it remain unmounted, a treasure for an investor or collector? Or will it be purchased be a jeweler set into a ring to grace the hand of a beautiful woman? One thing is certain, this already well-travelled stone has a few more journeys ahead before it finds its next home.
