One of the main attractions at Sundance Diamonds’ booth at The JCK Show ~ Las Vegas is the Provo Rose—which, at 10.09 cts., is the world’s largest fancy intense, color-enhanced pink diamond.

The classic, 58-facet round VS stone was unveiled Saturday. It represents a major breakthrough for Sundance. The West Orem, Utah, company used its advanced high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) process combined with irradiation technology to transform a large natural brown Type IIa diamond into the stunning Provo Rose.

“Up until now, the chemistry of the diamond had made it impossible to create a pink diamond from a brown diamond using HPHT or standard irradiation,” said Jim Littman, director of business development for Sundance Diamonds. “But we were able to overcome this challenge.”

According to Littman, Sundance—a division of major polycrystalline diamond manufacturer U.S. Synthetic—now has the know-how to produce white (colorless), green, yellow, and pink diamonds from natural browns using its patented HPHT technology. Before the Provo Rose was developed, the largest irradiated color-enhanced pink was only 5 cts.—and it was processed by Sundance in 2005.

“We can now look at a brown diamond and tell what can be turned pink and what cannot,” Littman said. “Nobody else has our technology.”

Sundance has a history of processing large stones through its technique. The company routinely processes brown diamonds to D-G colorless diamonds in sizes ranging from 0.25 cts. to 55 cts. Earlier this year, Sundance also produced the world’s largest processed fancy intense yellow diamond, a 20 ct. round developed from a natural brown.

The Provo Rose has been mounted in a white gold pendant setting surrounded by pavé diamonds. Although the price has not yet been set, Littman said the diamond most likely will retail for close to $20,000 per carat.

Buyers who visit the Sundance booth (#43115) to see the Provo Rose also can get a free analysis of their diamonds and discounted processing for diamonds submitted at the show. In addition, the company will have on display diamonds from its customers that are available for purchase.

JCK