The Royal Canadian Mint is pushing into territory once reserved for haute jewellery maisons and a handful of elite mints. Its 2025 Opulence Collection, built around rare fancy yellow diamonds from the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories, signals that Canada intends to compete at the very top of the global luxury-coin market.
These coins are more than numismatic curiosities. They are a high-profile, mine-to-market showcase for Canadian diamonds, Canadian artistry and Canadian manufacturing, positioned against some of the most talked-about jewelled coins in the world.
Brilliance and Radiance: two Canadian showpieces
The 2025 Opulence collection centres on a single national motif: the Canada lily. That floral theme is interpreted across platinum, gold and diamonds in two ultra-limited pieces, Brilliance and Radiance.
Brilliance is the flagship: a 10 oz, 99.95% pure platinum coin designed by Canadian duo Chris Reid and Rosina Li. Its reverse presents a sculptural arrangement of Canada lilies, enhanced with selective gold plating and set with an array of pear- and round-cut fancy yellow diamonds from Ekati, cut and polished by Vancouver-based Crossworks Manufacturing. Seven stones form the heart of the central bloom, with additional diamonds tracing lilies at different stages of growth around the coin. Only 10 examples exist worldwide.
Radiance is its golden counterpart: a 1 oz, 99.99% pure gold coin by Canadian artist Simon Ng. Here, the Canada lily becomes a jewellery motif in its own right. Six marquise-cut fancy yellow diamonds form the petals around a round white diamond centre, arranged in 18K gold atop an engraved sunburst inspired by a compass star. Four additional sun-like flowers, each set with a round white diamond, ring the edge. Radiance is limited to a mintage of just 30 coins.
Both pieces feature the effigy of His Majesty King Charles III by Canadian artist Steven Rosati on the obverse. Each coin is presented in a matte black wood case crafted by Quebec manufacturer Manubois, creating a fully Canadian chain from mine to finished collectible.
To put the positioning into perspective, Radiance sits far above a standard 1 oz Gold Maple Leaf, which is typically priced close to the underlying bullion value. While both share 1 oz of 99.99% pure gold, Radiance commands a significant premium for its design, ultra-low mintage and embedded diamond value. Brilliance, with its 10 oz platinum weight and high diamond count, is even more firmly placed in the realm of museum-grade objets d’art rather than investment bullion.
Together, the limited run of Brilliance and Radiance concentrates a notable number of fancy yellow diamonds across only 40 coins in total. In effect, the Mint has created a micro-collection where the diamonds and Canadian story are as important as the precious metal itself.
How Opulence stacks up against the world’s elite jewelled coins
The Royal Canadian Mint is entering a niche that other leading mints have been cultivating for several years: the overlap between luxury jewellery, sculpture and numismatics.
One of the clearest comparisons is The Perth Mint’s Jewelled Series. These 10 oz gold proof coins often feature three-dimensional animal motifs in 18K gold, pavé-set with Argyle pink diamonds and other gemstones. Editions such as the Jewelled Phoenix or Jewelled Dragon have been released in extremely low mintages, sometimes fewer than 10 pieces, and priced in the mid- to high-six figures. They are designed to appeal to top-tier collectors and to leverage the global prestige of Argyle pink diamonds.
Where the Perth Mint leans heavily on Chinese symbolism and the now-closed Argyle mine as its calling card, the Royal Canadian Mint is building its narrative around national flora and the Arctic-mined fancy yellow diamonds of Ekati. In both cases, the diamond source is a central part of the story: provenance as a luxury feature, not just a compliance footnote.
In Europe, Monnaie de Paris has pursued similar collaborations through its “French Excellence” series, working with houses such as Boucheron. A 1 kg gold Boucheron coin, set with diamonds in an ivy motif, was limited to just 11 pieces and priced in line with high jewellery rather than traditional coins. Like Opulence and the Jewelled Series, it blurs the line between coin, medallion and wearable art.
Even within the Mint’s own portfolio, the 2025 yellow-diamond Opulence pieces mark an evolution. Earlier Opulence releases showcased Argyle pink diamonds across larger and more complex offerings, including multi-piece collections and one-kilogram platinum centrepieces. The 2025 edition is more focused: two coins, a tighter total mintage and an explicitly Canadian narrative at every step, from Ekati to Crossworks to the Mint and Manubois.
Why this matters to Canadian jewellers
Most stores will never physically stock Brilliance or Radiance. Their price, rarity and global collector demand make them candidates for private sales, institutional holdings or museum-level collections. Even so, they carry important implications for the Canadian jewellery trade.
First, they act as proof of concept that Canadian diamonds can comfortably operate in the same rarefied air as Argyle pinks and other coveted stones. Ekati is best known for its high-quality white diamonds, but the spotlight on its fancy yellows highlights a small but highly desirable slice of its production. In an era when origin and narrative drive value, this kind of visibility can only help Canadian diamonds.
Second, the Opulence Collection offers a blueprint for mine-to-market storytelling. The partnership between Burgundy Diamond Mines (Ekati’s owner), Crossworks Manufacturing, the Royal Canadian Mint and Manubois forms a clean, credible value chain that begins in the tundra and ends in a gallery-quality presentation case. For retailers, that structure can inspire similar narratives in high jewellery: traceable stones, Canadian design, and finished pieces that stand up on the world stage.
Third, Opulence can be a conversation starter with serious clients. Many high-net-worth buyers are already comfortable in the worlds of watches, art and rare coins. Being able to speak fluently about how Brilliance and Radiance compare with, say, a Perth Jewelled coin or a French high-jewellery collaboration positions Canadian jewellers as informed advisors across the broader universe of precious objects. That, in turn, makes it easier to justify six-figure prices for bespoke Canadian-diamond creations.
A new benchmark for Canadian luxury
With the 2025 Opulence Collection, the Royal Canadian Mint is sending a clear message: Canada belongs in the same conversation as Perth and Paris when it comes to jewelled art coins. Brilliance and Radiance are not simply precious-metal investments; they are meticulously designed stages for Canadian yellow diamonds and Canadian artistry.
For Canadian Jeweller readers, the opportunity is to harness that story. It is a reminder that when local diamonds, local designers and local manufacturers align around a strong narrative, the world is willing to assign a very high value to what Canada creates.
