Boodles took over the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand from Rio Tinto on Thursday 1 October. Argyle, the mine in the East Kimberley of Western Australia that produced more than 90 per cent of the world’s pink diamonds, stopped mining on 3 November 2020 after 37 years, and Rio Tinto says the British jeweller has also acquired “the last remaining Argyle pink diamond inventory”. The brand puts their rarity in one image: an entire year’s production of polished Argyle pinks over one carat could fit in the palm of a hand. Neither company has published the price, the number of stones or their total weight. What Boodles has said is where they will go, into a high jewellery collection in 2027.
37 years, 865 million carats, less than 1 per cent pink
The mine’s story can be told in its own figures. The first Argyle pink was found in 1979, “glinting atop an anthill”, in the brand’s words. Production began in 1983, moved to an open pit in 1985 and went underground in 2013, to reach diamonds more than half a kilometre below the surface. Over its life Argyle produced more than 865 million carats of rough diamonds, according to Rio Tinto, and of the roughly 15 million carats mined each year, less than 1 per cent were pink. The mine lies at Barramundi Gap, 3,040 kilometres from Perth, on the traditional country of the Miriwoong, Gija, Malgnin and Wularr people. The brand’s history page says the main demolition, landforming and revegetation works are due to be completed in 2026, followed by at least ten years of monitoring and maintenance.
What passes to Boodles
The arrangement has two parts. From 1 October, Boodles is responsible for “a suite of registered and unregistered trademarks” associated with the brand, together with key digital platforms including its website and its Instagram account, according to a new page on the brand’s site titled A New Chapter. Rio Tinto’s release adds the stones: “As part of the agreement, Boodles acquired the last remaining Argyle pink diamond inventory”, and the transition “was completed on 1 October 2026”. The brand’s page speaks of custodianship. Boodles, on its own site, says the remaining Argyle pinks “will form part of Boodles’ 2027 High Jewellery collection, celebrating their rarity, beauty and provenance”. Patrick Coppens, Rio Tinto Diamonds general manager for sales and marketing, said the miner’s priority had been to ensure that the brand “remains with an owner who understands its history and can responsibly steward the brand into the future”.
“We are incredibly proud and honoured to be entrusted with the future of the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand. Boodles is deeply committed to these extraordinary Australian gemstones.” Jody Wainwright, Managing Director of Boodles, on the Argyle Pink Diamonds website.
Tenders, grades and laser numbers
For 38 years Argyle pinks reached the market through an annual tender. The first, in 1984, offered 33 stones with a combined weight of just over 18 carats; until 2021, each tender presented 50 to 70 of the finest pink, red, blue and violet diamonds of the year to invited diamantaires, jewellers and collectors, who placed sealed bids. Since 2008 the most notable stones have carried names. The Argyle Eclipse, a 3.47-carat Fancy Intense Pink offered in 2021, was the largest diamond of that colour in the tender’s history, and The Argyle Violet, 2.83 carats, offered in 2016, was cut from a 9.17-carat rough found the year before. Red is the brand’s ultimate colour. Just 35 diamonds were presented with that grade in the tender’s history. Rio Tinto held a third and final Beyond Rare tender in 2025. The brand grades on its own scale, from 1PP to 9PP for purplish pink to Pink Champagne and Blue Violet, and since 2005 its larger stones have been laser-inscribed with a lot number visible under magnification; from December 2016, every Argyle pink over 0.08 carats was inscribed and certified. Neither company has said who will issue certificates and run the brand’s Diamond Check registry from now on.
From Lord Street to Old Bond Street
Boodles traces its origins to Liverpool in 1798 and describes itself as a sixth-generation family business; Coppens called it “a family-owned company with 228 years’ experience”. Boodles House, on the corner of Lord Street and North John Street, opened in 1921 and is still its head office. The first London shop opened opposite Harrods in 1987, the first on Bond Street in 2007, and on 30 September the house introduced a new London flagship, the Boodles Townhouse at 23 Old Bond Street. The link with Argyle began in 1998, when the family bought its first Argyle pink. In 2016 Rio Tinto named Boodles a Select Atelier for Argyle Pink Diamonds, and the brand’s page says it was an Argyle pink that inspired Nicholas Wainwright, the company’s president, to introduce the pink that has since become synonymous with Boodles. The colour runs through its designs, including pieces from its Raindance collection.
A brand without a mine
The dates explain the move. Mining stopped in November 2020, the annual tender ended in 2021, and Rio Tinto sold its last collection of rare stones in the Beyond Rare tender of 2025, which Coppens called “a wonderful epilogue”. What remained was a name, a registry, an archive of named stones and a final inventory. A brand with no new stones needs a house that sells finished jewels, and Boodles already describes itself as “the definitive destination for pink diamonds worldwide”. Place has become a selling point at the very top of the market: in Milan, Patek Philippe has just made seven limited editions for its Italian exhibition, two of them with the city in enamel on the dial. Rio Tinto, for its part, says it “remains committed to respectfully closing and rehabilitating the site in a way that recognises the Traditional Owners’ deep connection to Country”.
The Luxury.it perspective
The interesting word on the brand’s new page is custodianship. Rio Tinto, a mining company, owned a name; Boodles, a jeweller, will keep a story, and the difference matters to anyone who buys one of these stones. What makes an Argyle pink an Argyle pink is its origin, and the proof sits in two places, a laser inscription on the girdle and a document carrying the same number. The practical advice for collectors does not change with the new owner. Ask for the certificate, check the inscription under a 10x loupe, and keep both together. For everyone else, the place to see the last of these stones will be Boodles’ high jewellery collection in 2027.
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