Birks Unveils 16-Carat Fancy Yellow Diamond

The Birks jewelry store in Edmonton, Canada, is selling a 16.01-carat fancy intense yellow diamond set on a diamond pavé platinum ring. The natural colored, Asscher cut, VVS1 diamond was recently discovered and is conflict-free, according to the Birks jewelry chain. The ring is on sale for CAD$1.8 million ($1.7 million).

The ring will be on view and on sale at the Birks store in Manulife Place until April 16 before moving to the Birks store in the Core shopping center in Calgary.

Birks is 30-store fine jewelry retail chain in Canada. It is part of Birks & Mayors, which also operates 23 stores under the Mayors brand in Florida and Georgia, two retail locations in Calgary and Vancouver under the Brinkhaus brand, and one retail location in Orlando under the Rolex brand.

Pink Diamond Sets Canadian Auction Record

A pink diamond was auctioned for a Canadian record of $2.3 million Sunday in Toronto, according to media reports.

The gem was purchased by an anonymous buyer, possibly an American, via phone during Sunday's auction at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Toronto, The Toronto Star reported Monday. The gem, with a clarity rating of VS2, came from the Argyle mine in Australia, which is known as the world’s largest supplier of pink diamonds.

The sum paid for the diamond, which includes "full naming rights," beat the previous record for an auctioned gem in Canada, $244,000.

The auctioneer, Toronto-based Circa Auctions, said the pink diamond was valued at $2.4 million to $2.9 million before the auction.

Harry Winston Increases Stake in Canadian Diamond Mine

Harry Winston Diamond Corp. said Friday it has struck a deal to purchase an additional 9 percent stake in Diavik Diamond Mine for $220 million from Kinross Gold Corp. When the purchase is finalized, Harry Winston will own 40 percent of the mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories of Canada.

Toronto-based Harry Winston will pay Kinross $50 million in cash, 7.1 million in stock and $70 million in debt securities, according to a company statement.

In a related development, Toronto-based Kinross said Friday that it has reached an agreement to sell approximately 15 million common shares of Harry Winston to a group of financial institutions. Kinross' direct ownership interest in Harry Winston following closing of the transaction will be approximately 8.5 percent. Kinross originally acquired the interest in Diavik in March 2009, as part of a deal that saw the company also gain a 19.9 percent stake in Harry Winston for $150 million.

“The transaction represents an opportunity for Harry Winston to consolidate its interest in the Diavik mine, Canada's largest diamond producer and one of the most profitable diamond mines in the world,” Robert Gannicott, Harry Winston chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

Harry Winston Diamond Corp. has assets in the mining and retail segments of the diamond industry. Harry Winston supplies rough diamonds to the global market and the company's retail division is a diamond jeweler and luxury timepiece retailer with salons in key locations, including New York, Paris, London, Beijing, Tokyo and Beverly Hills.