
Which diamond is the hottest gem in the world?
- June 22, 2021
The Diamond Association of Australia has released its 2017 Australian Price Guide for the hottest diamonds, with the most expensive being the rare ruby gem, the gemstone known as the ‘Diamond of the South’.
The most expensive gem in Australia was the ruby gem with a price tag of $18.6 million in 2017, while the most valuable diamond in the country was the platinum gem with an estimated value of $2.7 billion.
The diamond price guide, released on Thursday, also showed the price of diamonds in the top 50 richest diamond producers, and the top 25 diamonds with the highest value.
Diamonds in the most precious metal, gold, came in at number 11 on the list with a value of almost $US3 trillion.
The Diamond Association’s 2017 Australian Diamond Price Guide also showed that the diamond industry in Australia is growing rapidly.
“Australia has the largest diamond market in the western world, with sales increasing every year,” said Kate McGlashan, CEO of the Diamond Association.
According to the report, the industry’s annual revenue in 2017 was around $US17 billion.
However, the biggest drivers of demand for diamonds are high demand for jewellery and diamonds in Asia, and increasing demand for natural diamonds such as yellow diamonds.
The report also showed rising demand for platinum in the jewellery industry, which was at a record high of 5.4 billion tonnes in 2016.
“This is the fourth consecutive year that the platinum industry has grown and we are well on the way to a record annual increase in platinum production,” Ms McGlackan said.
Gold production also rose, from just under 9,000 tonnes in 2017 to around 11,300 tonnes in 2018.
A further increase in demand for gold came from the sale of platinum jewellery in Australia, with platinum jeweller Breguet and jeweller Wigwam’s Gold in 2018 alone selling more than 30,000 kilograms of platinum to the industry.
Gold jewellery was also a growing market for the gem industry.
In 2018, more than half of the world’s platinum production was in Australia.