AP Television
Ramat Gan, 26 November 2014
1. Close of Eden Rachminov, chairman, board of advisors "The Fancy Color Research Foundation" checking the red diamonds cross with loop
2. Zoom out on Eden Rachminov checking diamonds on cross
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Eden Rachminov, Chairman, board of advisors "The Fancy Color Research Foundation"
"I think it's extremely rare, the fact that you have so many red stones combined in one piece, this is something that you can never find and you won't see it on the market. A very important fact is that many red diamonds that are classified by GIA (Gemological Institute of America) don't always correspond to the red color. Sometimes they look deep pink or they have some kind of an undertone, but all the stones here really look red and the clarity is very high also."
4. Close up red diamonds cross
5. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Rami Seren, Seren Diamonds, Owner of the crucifix
" Once we were done creating this jewel, we took this jewel to someone who saw the picture of the jewel, a big diamond dealer from Belgium and he told us how much this jewel is special. And we sent this jewel to the GIA in order to get their opinion, and the GIA is the number one (gemological) laboratory in the world - it is considered to be the best laboratory of diamonds in the world - and they told us that this jewel is very very special, there is nothing like this in the entire world, it is something very very special. And then they made a book on this jewel where they wrote on every diamond. There are 11 diamonds here with very high purity. They made a certificate on every diamond that is in this jewel and put it all in one book where they explained the whole process of this jewel, from the beginning when we started creating it, until the end of its design"
6. Close of Eden Rachminov, chairman, board of advisors "The Fancy Color Research Foundation" checking the red diamonds cross
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eden Rachminov, Chairman, board of advisors "The Fancy Color Research Foundation"
"This piece is really one of a kind. Whoever is going to buy this is gonna be very lucky."
8. Mid of diamond cross
9. Close up of diamond cross
An Israeli diamond merchant has unveiled a one-of-a kind piece of jewellery adorned with 11 rare red diamonds.
According to the Gemological Institute of America, the world's foremost authority on diamonds, 90 percent of the world's pink to red diamonds come from the Argyle mine in western Australia.
Eden Rachminov, chairman on the board of advisors of "The Fancy Color Research Foundation", an "independent, non-profit organisation formed to promote fair-trade, ethics and transparency across the fancy color diamond industry says that red diamonds are so rare it is not clear how many there are in the world.
" I think it's extremely rare, the fact that you have so many red stones combined in one piece, this is something that you can never find and you won't see it on the market. A very important fact is that many red diamonds that are classified by GIA (Gemological Institute of America) don't always correspond to the red color, sometimes they look deep pink or they have some kind of an undertone, but all the stones here really look red and the clarity is very high also."
According to the GIA, the highest price par carat for a red diamond was reached in 1987 at a Christie's New York auction, 926.316$ for a purplish red 0.95 carat diamond known as the "Hancock Red."
The cross-shaped Israeli piece, polished and designed at Israel's diamond exchange near Tel Aviv, has a total weight of 6.91 carats.
"Seren diamonds", which specialises in colored diamonds, collected the red diamonds, which were mined in Australia, one by one for a period of 8 years and finally decided to build them into a cross.
" Once we were done creating this jewel, we took this jewel to someone who saw the picture of the jewel, a big diamond dealer from Belgium. And he told us how much this jewel is special, and we sent this jewel to the GIA in order to get their opinion, and the GIA is the number one (gemological) laboratory in the world - it is considered to be the best laboratory of diamonds in the world - and they told us that this jewel is very very special, there is nothing like this in the entire world, it is something very very special. And then they made a book on this jewel where they wrote on every diamond. There are 11 diamonds here with very high purity. They made a certificate on every diamond that is in this jewel and put it all in one book where they explained the whole process of this jewel, from the beginning when we started creating it, until the end of its design" says Rami Seren.
The owners say the red diamonds cross is worth around 100 million dollars.
"This piece is really one of a kind, whoever is going to buy this is gonna be very lucky" says Rachminov.
The diamond industry accounts for about 20 percent of Israel's total industrial exports. According to Israel's Economy Ministry, the country's diamond industry has an annual worth of around 28 billion US dollars.
For decades now, diamond production has shifted east to countries like China and India. Today, Israel only produces a small percentage of the world's diamonds but companies have been adapting - including a shift to selling fancy colours and shapes.
