NUTTAPON YONGKIETTAKUL AND SHAR-LINN LIEW

The designer couple behind Bangkok‑based Kavant & Sharart share a surprising truth about gemstones

Tell us something we don’t know about jewellery.

Lots of clients request gemstones of a specific origin because they think that country produces superior stones to others. For example, they might request a Burmese ruby because they assume they’re the best in the market. In actual fact, excellent rubies come from around the world, including Madagascar, Mozambique and, more recently, Greenland.

Who would you like to see wearing Kavant & Sharart? Anna Wintour. We love her style.

What’s your favourite gemstone to work with? Coloured sapphires because of their hardness and durability.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received? Share your experiences with the people around you. It’s always important to hear different points of view.

Tell us about your latest collection, Agamo.

It’s inspired by agamography, images that change when viewed from different angles, named after Israeli sculptor Yaacov Agam.

What has 2021 taught you?

It has taught us to slow down and appreciate the things we take for granted.

1 They are really rare.

Before its closure last year, the Argyle Diamond Mine [in South Africa] supplied about 90 per cent of the world’s pink diamonds. A year’s worth of production fits into a single champagne flute, making these diamonds the rarest of the rare.

2 They are very expensive.

Some medium‑quality pink diamonds attract prices 20 times higher than their white equivalents. The current record auction price is for the Pink Star, which was sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in April 2017 for US$71.2 million.

3 They haven’t been around long.

Pink diamonds are the youngest diamonds to exist, at roughly one billion years old. White diamonds typically take between one and three billion years to form, which is approximately 25 to 75 per cent of the age of the Earth.

4 They are difficult to polish.

Pink diamonds take three to four times longer to polish than white diamonds. Craftsmen have compared polishing a pink diamond to cutting knotted wood, whereas polishing a white diamond is similar to cutting butter—a much easier task.

5 They are small.

Only 3 per cent of the pink diamonds produced by the Argyle Diamond Mine are more than one carat, while 85 per cent are below 0.15 carats, which is less that 3 mm in diameter.