Rio Tinto prepares showcase of Argyle diamonds in Chinese market

Rio Tinto plans to promote diamonds from the Argyle mine in Western Australian within the Chinese market, with a showcase planned for next month. The highlight of this showcase will be “Nature’s Glow” - a special white and champagne diamond encrusted tiara, crafted as a tribute to the strategic partnership between Rio Tinto and pre-eminent Chinese jeweller, Chow Tai Fook, on the occasion of the jeweller’s 85th anniversary. The tiara is inspired by the natural beauty of Australia, and will be displayed in key cities in China.

The partnership between Rio Tinto and Chow Tai Fook was established at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 and today has Chow Tai Fook now retailing Argyle diamonds from the majority of its 2000 stores in Greater China. The partnership that ws set up led to five Chow Tai Fook fashion jewellery collections featuring Argyle diamonds. A new collection - ‘Chow Tai Fook Sunshine’ will be launched in October, promoted under the banner of ‘Light up your life with Australian Diamonds’. The ‘Chow Tai Fook Sunshine’ collection comprises a selection of diamond jewellery with designs inspired by Australia’s natural beauty and rich heritage. Each jewellery piece carries a Certificate of Authenticity noting the origin of the diamonds and their journey from one of the most remote parts of Australia.

Speaking about the collection, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Ltd managing director Kent Wong said “These jewellery pieces are exquisite examples of the creative collaboration that exists between Australia and China – beautiful Australian diamonds have found their way into the finest of bespoke Chinese jewellery.”

Rio Tinto Diamonds managing director Jean-Marc Lieberherr said, “Chow Tai Fook is one of the great jewellery companies of the world and over the past five years Rio Tinto has been delighted to work with it to develop the fashion jewellery market in China. This powerful partnership has enabled opportunities to grow the Chinese market for diamonds in ways we could only dream of less than five years ago.”