Internally flawless fancy diamond pink at the auction of Sotheby's, held in Hong Kong today, 4 April, was sold for HKD 553 037 500 (which corresponds approximately to $ 71.2 million). It became the most expensive diamond (and the most valuable jewelry lot in general), breaking the record for the large blue diamond, Oppenheimer's Blue, which was sold at Christie's for $ 57.6 million last May.
The 59.6-carat Pink Star diamond is the largest diamond in the world in the category of Flawless, Fancy Pink, Natural Color and Oval. Such a characteristic was given to the stone by experts from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). In fact, the Pink Star became the largest flawless pink diamond ever evaluated.
Pink Star diamond © Sotheby's press materials
It is more than twice the weight of another famous diamond Graff Pink (24.78 carats), which to this day was considered the most expensive pink diamond - at Sotheby's in Geneva in 2010 it was sold for $ 46.2 million.
The intrigue of the last auction in Hong Kong was that Pink Star had already appeared at the auction once - in November 2010, the stone went under the hammer for a record $ 83.19 million. However, it later turned out that the buyer, American jeweler Isaac Wolfe, was unable to pay for purchased item. As a result, the stone was returned to the Sotheby’s auction house.
“At a time when there is an unprecedented interest in the highest quality colored diamonds around the world, I am especially pleased that this magnificent gem is returning to the jewelry market,” said David Bennett, head of Sotheby’s international jewelry division. "The unique size of this 59.6-carat diamond, combined with its rich color, sets it apart from all pink diamonds known today."
The original 132.5-carat crystal was discovered by De Beers in a diamond mine in Africa in 1999.>
