Sotheby’s To Sell ‘Most Valuable Diamond Ever to be Offered at Auction’

The 59.60 carat Pink Star may fetch $60 million.

Sotheby’s Geneva will offer a 59.60-carat internally flawless vivid pink diamond at its Magnificent Jewels sale on November 13. Known as The Pink Star, the auction house says it is the most valuable diamond ever to be offered at auction. It is estimated to sell for more than $60 million. For those counting that’s more than $1 million per carat.

The oval cut gem is the largest internally flawless fancy vivid pink diamond that the Gemological Institute of America has ever graded, the auction house said.

David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division in Europe and the Middle East and chairman of Sotheby’s Switzerland, said the diamond is one of the most important gems he has ever seen in his 35-year career.
 

“Its exceptional richness of color … combined with its extraordinary size, are characteristics that surpass those of any known pink diamond in state, royal, or private collections,” he said. “It is difficult to exaggerate the rarity of vivid pink diamonds weighing only five carats, so this 59.60 carat stone is simply off any scale, and passes, I believe, into the ranks of the earth’s greatest natural treasures.”

The diamond is also graded as Type IIa, rare for a pink diamond of this size and color. Cut over a period of two years, The Pink Star is still more than twice the size of the Graff Pink—a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink diamond that established a world auction record for a diamond and any gemstone or jewel at $46.2 million, at Sotheby’s Geneva in 2010.

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The 59.60 carat Pink Star may fetch $60 million.

Sotheby’s Geneva will offer a 59.60-carat internally flawless vivid pink diamond at its Magnificent Jewels sale on November 13. Known as The Pink Star, the auction house says it is the most valuable diamond ever to be offered at auction. It is estimated to sell for more than $60 million. For those counting that’s more than $1 million per carat.

The oval cut gem is the largest internally flawless fancy vivid pink diamond that the Gemological Institute of America has ever graded, the auction house said.

David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division in Europe and the Middle East and chairman of Sotheby’s Switzerland, said the diamond is one of the most important gems he has ever seen in his 35-year career.
 

“Its exceptional richness of color … combined with its extraordinary size, are characteristics that surpass those of any known pink diamond in state, royal, or private collections,” he said. “It is difficult to exaggerate the rarity of vivid pink diamonds weighing only five carats, so this 59.60 carat stone is simply off any scale, and passes, I believe, into the ranks of the earth’s greatest natural treasures.”

The diamond is also graded as Type IIa, rare for a pink diamond of this size and color. Cut over a period of two years, The Pink Star is still more than twice the size of the Graff Pink—a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink diamond that established a world auction record for a diamond and any gemstone or jewel at $46.2 million, at Sotheby’s Geneva in 2010.

Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet and on the Forbes Web site.