(CNN)Relatively small, but slowly and perfectly formed over billions of years, the Argyle Violet diamond is so rare in color that it has its own unique diamond classification: “Fancy Deep Grayish Blueish Violet.”
It was “a once in a lifetime discovery. I fell in love with it. We had to have it,” says Scott West of L.J. West Diamonds Inc. of New York.
Like his father, Larry, and his grandfather Max before him, West is a diamond hunter, searching for the rarest and most unusually colored stones.
His most recent acquisition, the 2.83-carat oval Argyle Violet is being displayed as part of “Diamonds: Rare Brilliance” at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
What went wrong? Kormind thinks the big collectors tend to prefer Vivid Blue to Fancy Deep Blue. Or was the market perhaps a little saturated? There were other arguably more attractive big blue diamonds available around this time.
A box office star way back in the 1930s, Temple’s name has obviously lost some of its luster over time. But the inescapable truth seems to be that no one apparently fell in love with her diamond, or felt it was worth that level of investment. In an otherwise great year for colored diamonds, it was a singular exception.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/20/luxury/2016-year-of-colored-diamonds/index.html
