65 red and pink diamonds, on a world tour

London--Rio Tinto once again has four fancy reds in its annual tender of special stones from the Argyle in Western Australia, the mine that produces the vast majority of the world’s pink and red diamonds.

Rio Tinto has dubbed its 2015 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender the “Connoisseur’s Collection.”Including the four fancy reds, there are total of 65 diamonds in this year’s Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, up from 55 last year.

There also are five “hero” stones this year, top-quality diamonds to which Rio Tinto assigns a name.

RELATED CONTENT: Our story on the 2014 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender

This year, Rio Tinto’s partnership with The Australian Ballet inspired the names assigned to the hero stones.

-- Argyle Prima, a 1.20-carat pear-shaped fancy red
-- Argyle Aurora, a 1.47-carat fancy red oval shape named for the princess in Sleeping Beauty
--Argyle Allegro, a 0.79-carat fancy red radiant-shaped diamond, named after the brisk and lively movement in ballet
--Argyle Spectre, a 1.93-carat fancy-vivid purplish-pink shield-shaped diamond that takes its name from the ballet Le Spectre de la rose
--Argyle Élevé, a 1.44-carat fancy-intense pink emerald shape inspired by a movement in ballet

Viewings of the Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender in Hong Kong are by invitation only. Following the viewings there, Rio Tinto will bring the diamonds to New York and then back to Australia.

Tender bids are scheduled to close Oct. 21.