Chris Soklich, of Ellendale Diamonds Australia, says interest in yellow diamonds is on the rise. “We love yellow, it’s a happy stone and we have found that interest has started to increase for sure,” he explains of some of the reasons for establishing a business specialising in the yellow hue. “The price of pinks has gone up as the supply dwindles, so it made sense to focus on yellow,” Soklich adds. The business owns yellow and white stock from the Ellendale mine in Western Australia – it secured rough allocation about four years ago and also acquired stones from Tiffany & Co, which had a special offtake agreement with the mine before operations ceased. While Soklich is confident production will re-commence at Ellendale in due course, the business has purchased yellow rough and polished diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine as well. “Everybody has heard of Argyle pinks, champagne and whites,” Soklich says. “They know there are Argyle yellows but it’s a very, very small supply. We’ve been able to purchase quite a large amount.” Ellendale Diamonds Australia was set up as a way to certify its product as Australian, something Soklich states is important to consumers. “We really support local. An Australian-made product, promoted with certification,” he comments. EDA also offers a finished jewellery range using Ellendale and Argyle diamonds, all designed in-house. Soklich says coloured diamonds are attractive to jewellery retailers because they are a little bit more exclusive than white diamonds and give stores a point of difference. “There is no real price shopping that you can do,” he explains. “They’re all individual stones so it is almost impossible to buy them online because buyers just don’t know what they’re going to get.” Interesting fact … Up until about two years ago, Tiffany & Co had a contract with the Ellendale mine that stipulated it could have first access to every stone mined. |