Rio Tinto Completes Argyle Pink Diamonds Brand Transfer to Boodles

Rio Tinto (RIO ) announced on 1 October 2026 that ownership of the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand has transitioned to luxury jewellery designer group Boodles. Under the agreement, Boodles acquired the last remaining Argyle pink diamond inventory and assumed ownership of a suite of trademarks associated with the brand, plus website and digital marketing assets. The London-datelined release stated that the transition was completed on 1 October 2026 and disclosed no purchase price or other financial terms.

Rio Tinto Diamonds General Manager Sales and Marketing Patrick Coppens said the brand had transitioned to Boodles, which he described as a family-owned company with 228 years of experience. “Our priority has been to ensure that the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand remains with an owner who understands its history and can responsibly steward the brand into the future,” Coppens said, adding that Rio Tinto looks forward to Boodles taking stewardship of the brand.

Boodles Managing Director Jody Wainwright said: “We are incredibly proud and honoured to be entrusted with the future of Argyle Pink Diamonds brand.” Wainwright said Boodles is deeply committed to the Australian gemstones and that the rarity and beauty of Argyle pink diamonds have helped create the company’s jewellery designs for more than 40 years.

Argyle Mine History and Closure

The Argyle mine is located in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia on the traditional country of the Miriwoong, Gija, Malgnin and Wularr people. According to Rio Tinto’s Argyle operations page, Argyle was one of the world’s largest producers of diamonds and the largest supplier of natural coloured diamonds, including white, yellow, brown, blue, violet, pink and red stones. In its 1 October release, Rio Tinto described Argyle as the world’s first and only source of pink diamonds, producing more than 90 per cent of world supply. Mining ceased in November 2020 after 37 years of operation, with the last day of mining on 3 November 2020.

The final day of mining marked the beginning of the transition to a decades-long closure process, following a six-month make-safe period. Rio Tinto expects it will take five years to dismantle the operational infrastructure, reshape the land and begin revegetation. The company reports that 2,000 hectares of land are to be rehabilitated, with 34,000 tonnes of steel from the processing plant infrastructure removal sent offsite for recycling and 11,000 kilograms of seed to be collected for revegetation. More than 35% of the total site works and services scope is being delivered by Traditional Owner businesses, and Rio Tinto states it is on track to complete removal of infrastructure, landform profiling and revegetation in 2026.

In 2005, following several years of relationship building and negotiation, the Argyle Participation Agreement was registered as an Indigenous Land Use Agreement, superseding the 20-year-old Good Neighbour Agreement and acknowledging Traditional Owners as the custodians of Country. In 2022, Stage One of a Mine Closure Agreement was signed between Rio Tinto and the Traditional Owners, providing a financial contribution to help mitigate the impacts of the mine’s closure. Seven Traditional Owner family groups are signatories to the Participation Agreement. Rio Tinto said on 1 October that it remains committed to respectfully closing and rehabilitating the site in a way that recognises the Traditional Owners’ deep connection to Country.

Brand Stewardship and the Final Tenders

Rio Tinto had held the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand since the mine stopped producing. On 25 June 2021, the company announced it would retain the brand within its portfolio of diamond assets, saying the stones would remain available globally through its remaining inventory and the active secondary diamond and jewellery markets. Rio Tinto described Argyle Pink Diamonds at the time as an iconic Australian brand built up over 37 years. On 3 June 2022, the company launched the Argyle Pink Diamonds Icon Partner program as part of its strategy for the brand’s future development, according to the announcement indexed on the official Argyle Pink Diamonds news site.

On 19 September 2025, Rio Tinto launched its final Beyond Rare Tender, titled Into the Light, the third in its annual Art Series. The collection of 52 lots weighing 45.44 carats was headlined by six Masterpieces, together with 39 single diamonds and seven curated sets. The Argyle pink, red and violet diamonds were curated from the final legacy inventory and comprised one GIA Fancy Red diamond, 12 GIA Fancy Violet diamonds and 76 GIA Fancy Pink, Purple-Pink and Purplish Pink diamonds. The collection also featured two D-colour white diamonds of Flawless clarity from the Diavik mine, a 5.11-carat emerald cut and a 3.02-carat pear shape crafted from the same original rough diamond, and a Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond weighing 6.12 carats. The lots were showcased in Hong Kong, Australia and Antwerp, with bids closing on 20 October 2025.

Rio Tinto reported on 11 November 2025 that the final tender had delivered a strong result, 40 years after the commissioning of the Argyle mine, with winning bidders from Europe, the United States, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the Middle East. Lot 1, comprising two Fancy Vivid Purplish Pink pear shapes of 0.25 carats each paired with a 5.11-carat Flawless D-colour emerald-cut Diavik diamond, was won by Singapore-based Argyle Pink Diamonds Icon Partner Glajz THG in collaboration with longstanding Scandinavian luxury jeweller Hartmann’s. Japanese diamantaire and longstanding Authorised Partner Kashikey won three lots, including Lot 7, the only GIA Fancy Red diamond in the final collection. Rio Tinto states that approximately 2,500 carats of rare pink, red and blue polished Argyle diamonds were sold at annual Tenders from 1985 to 2025, representing less than 0.0003% of Argyle production over that period and sold into every continent except Antarctica. The company will close its Diavik diamond mine in Canada in 2026, after which there will be no remaining operating Rio Tinto diamond mines.

Boodles’ relationship with the brand predates the mine’s closure. Rio Tinto welcomed the UK jeweller as an Argyle Pink Diamonds Select Atelier on 5 September 2016, with the official launch planned for that October, when the 2016 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender was to be showcased in London for the first time in four years. The 2016 release described Boodles, established in 1798, as a sixth-generation family business. That year’s tender, named the Chroma Collection for its potency of colour, comprised 57 pink diamonds, two violet diamonds and four red diamonds weighing a total of 58.24 carats.

On its official pink diamonds page, Boodles states that even at its peak less than 1% of Argyle’s total production was pink, and that of those stones only 50 to 70 per year were considered exceptional enough to be sold through the Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender. The company states it was invited into the Argyle Select Atelier Programme prior to the mine’s 2020 closure to handpick important pink diamonds directly from the mine, and that it has access to the remaining Argyle inventory, with most of those diamonds not yet made into jewellery.