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IN-HOUSE PUBLICATION OF THE LARGEST DIAMOND MINING COMPANY WINTER 2021 THE LARGEST POLISHED DIAMOND EVER PRODUCED IN RUSSIA EDITORIAL NOTE Some think this has been the worst year ever, while others would regard it as just the strangest. Jewelers, diamond sellers and cutters told ALROSA how they got through 10 months of the pandemic and kept on working. ALROSA, despite the severe consequences of the coronavirus for the diamond industry, made a historic sale of the Spirit of the Rose and completed work on the largest diamond in its history. Read more on the pages of this issue. The central hero of the issue is a doctor. Yulia Kulakova, Head of the ALROSA Medical Center, introduces the reader to the company's medical infrastructure and describes the transformation of the corporate clinic, which left no stone unturned to protect the company’s employees and the local population of the diamond province from the novel coronavirus. Continuing the Map of Wonders art project, we present to you a diamond area of Europe which has many surprises in store apart from precious stones. We know that you have missed your travels. Join us for a walk through iconic jewelry locations in Japan. And for some people, distant journeys are part of the job, and no lockdown can stop them. ALROSA’s river workers, who spend several months on the main river of the North, the Lena, are all about life on the water. S 2021 Winter (12) 2 ALROSA # 1 CONTENTS 2 IN DETAIL 26 Opinion Challenge-2020 Market players sum up the results of the pandemic year 32 Interview Natural colored diamonds are the best objects to preserve the family’s wealth for the next generations One of the most respected experts on the 04 market Eden Rachminov about the rarest diamonds 38 Art project 56 Shine and mesmerize COMPANY 04 Fancy colored Pink record-breaker TERRITORY LIFESTYLE Momentous sale of ALROSA’s diamond 20 64 Interview 46 Interview 06 Cover story Calling on medics Hemmerle: “The Spectacle” Head of the ALROSA Medical Center, Yulia a house of traditions The largest diamond in ALROSA’s history Kulakova, about the medical center of the and innovations diamond mining company and the fight 12 Interview Yasmin and Christian Hemmerle about against COVID-19 in Siberia German family-owned high-jewelry Rules of the Trade house 52 Art project According to Head of the Client Policy Center of the ALROSA United Selling Organization, Map of Wonders 70 Jewelry travel Stanislav Martanus Diamond piece of Europe Japan: 20 Inner light 56 New generation treasure island Luminous Diamonds River journeys 78 Collection on the Red Carpet Our three heroes about work and life on the Jennifer Lopez chose jewelry with fluorescent ships that deliver equipment from the mainland Jewelry diamonds for the Red Carpet to ALROSA's remote mining sites stories 32 70 78 2021 Winter IN-HOUSE PUBLICATION OF THE LARGEST DIAMOND MINING COMPANY WINTER 2021 ALROSA IN-HOUSE Promotional Booklet Magazine Team: Evgeniya Kozenko, Pavel Publishing House Address: 3, Kostomarovsky Signed to For free PUBLICATION Prytkov, Yana Yushina, Diana Asonova lane, bld. 1A, Moscow 105120 print: distribution Editorial Office Address: Tel.: (495) 640-08-38; (495) 640-08-39 29.12.2020 24, Ozerkovskaya naberezhnaya, Head Editor: Polina Tyutina building 1, Moscow Magazine designed with the participation Printed in accordance with the materials On-line version is ALROSA # 2 (12) 115184 The picture on the cover: Diamond “The of MediaLine PH www.mlgr.ru provided in the Mediacolor Printing Office Publication available Spectacle”, we i g ht : 100.94 carats Director General: Maksim Shlegel Printing Office Address: date: on the website THE LARGEST POLISHED DIAMOND EVER PRODUCED IN RUSSIA Tel.: +7 (903) 265-36-00 Photo by Evgeny Likhatskiy Project Manager: Karina Melkumyan 19, Signalny proezd, Moscow 12.01.2021 www.alrosa.ru 3 fancy colored 4 A RECORD HOLDER IN THE WORLD OF PINK THE RUSSIAN FANCY VIVID PURPLE PINK DIAMOND “THE SPIRIT OF THE ROSE” AUCTIONED OFF AT SOTHEBY’S FOR $26.6 MILLION AND SET A WORLD RECORD FOR A DIAMOND PRICE AS WELL AS PER DIAMOND CARAT IN FANCY VIVID PURPLE PINK. The diamond’s weight is 14.83 carats, the cut is a modified oval, and the clarity is Internally Flawless. It is acknowledged as the largest diamond of its color ever to be offered in an auction. This unique diamond was created by the Moscow-based “Diamonds of ALROSA” diamond cutting division from a rough diamond weighing 27.85 carats. It was discovered at a placer mine in Yakutia beyond the Arctic Circle. The auction took place in Geneva in November 2020. The buyer’s identity has been withheld. The cost of one carat of the diamond was assessed at $1.8 million. 2021 Winter It is the largest vivid purple pink diamond that the Gemological Institute of America has ever evaluated. Diamonds of this size, color and clarity are extremely rare. It is the first diamond of this importance from Russia that has ever made it to an auction. It is also the first diamond of such a color that has been auctioned off, said senior specialist of Sotheby’s Jewelry Department in Geneva Olivier Wagner, as quoted by RIA Novosti. He also ALROSA # 2 (12) called this sale historic. Photo: Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg via Getty Images 5 cover story 6 ALROSA PRESENTS THE LARGEST SPECTACLE DIAMOND EVER CUT IN RUSSIA of Lightphoto: and EVGENY LIKHATSKIY, Facets DMITRY STOLYAREVICH POLISHED DIAMOND PROFILE Weight 100.94 carats Color D Clarity IF Shape Emerald Number of facets 57 ROUGH DIAMOND PROFILE Extracted May 2016 from the Zarnitsa pipe, Yakutia Weight 207.29 carats Color Colorless 2021 Winter Masters of the Moscow Cutting Division of the diamond mining company have cut an over 100-carat diamond which has won the highest ratings for color and clarity. The diamond was named “The Spectacle” and became part of a diamond collection of the same name ALROSA # 2 (12) dedicated to Russian ballet. 7 cover story 8 Planning the rough diamond for the Spectacle The Challenges of Marking and Cutting we managed to save more weight and “extract” Anatoly Kienko, Chief Specialist at the Diamond a little over 100 carats. Each cut shape has its own Selection, Expert Evaluation and Planning tolerances—limits for angle and proportion that we Department of “Diamonds of ALROSA”, has had need to adhere to. The cutter used these principles to deal with particularly large diamonds and managed to achieve the purest diamond before, but not with any of such high possible,” explains Anatoly Kienko. clarity and color as this one. This It took over a month to mark the big rough 207.29-carat crystal has proved to be diamond. As a result, in addition to the main colossal one of the most challenging in his diamond, eight others were cut from the 200-carat career. And here is why. crystal: six pear-shaped, one oval, and one round, the The geometry of the crystal’s facets largest weighing 6.05 carats. did not allow all its internal inclusions Special cutting discs and a setting were prepared INITIALLY, THE PROGRAM FOR to be seen. To look inside, experts had to to cut the Spectacle. Laser sawing of the diamond PLANNING AND MARKING THE cut “windows” all over the surface. carried high risks: because of the crystal’s high ROUGH DIAMOND CALCULATED The standard equipment used to scan a diamond internal stress, it could have cracked or burst. A 95-CARAT DIAMOND. BUT and all its inclusions and build a 3D model cannot “But our work always involves risk. Mechanical DURING PROCESSING WE accommodate a 200-carat stone. That is why the sawing would have taken us months, if not a year, and MANAGED TO PRESERVE MORE company purchased the latest foreign equipment we would have had to sacrifice a lot of the diamond’s WEIGHT AND “EXTRACT” for scanning particularly large stones. However, the weight. Meanwhile, laser sawing of one part or top A LITTLE OVER machine only recognized defects with saturated (diamond tip — ed.) took only an hour,” comments contours. The capacity of the lens did not capture Anatoly Kienko. The skill of the cutter played a huge the smallest inclusions. “After setting up the facet part: “Nikolay Mirskov worked on the Spectacle for windows, we studied the diamond from the inside, over a year and achieved a perfect result. To cut with a microscope, and marked the inclusions old- a colossally expensive diamond is also a mentally fashioned way, by hand with a marker,” says Anatoly demanding job, so, immediately after finishing work 2021 Kienko. on the Spectacle, Nikolay went on vacation.” C A R A T S . Winter The main polished diamond created from the 100 207-carat crystal could have had a pear shape. “The The Rarest elongated shape of the diamond suggested two The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has potential cut options: a pear or an emerald. At last defined the 101-carat diamond as belonging to type IIa. we chose the emerald option. Initially, the program Diamonds of the second type, IIa and IIb, contain few ALROSA # 2 (12) for planning and marking the rough diamond nitrogen atoms in the crystal lattice, if any. Less than calculated a 95-carat cut stone. But during processing 2% of all the world’s diamonds fall into this category. 9 cover story 10 LEGENDARY DEPOSIT The crystal from which the Spectacle diamond was cut was extracted from the Zarnitsa kimberlite pipe in Yakutia. It was with the opening of this pipe that the history of Russian diamond mining and ALROSA began: Zarnitsa was the The GIA explains that Type IIa diamonds are the first primary diamond deposit found in the Soviet Union.