The 59.60-carat Pink Star diamond has once again set a world record for the highest price paid at auction for a diamond or piece of jewellery.
The fancy vivid pink oval-cut stone fetched US$71.2 million (AU$95 m) at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong on 4 April. This figure is more than double that of the previous record held for a fancy vivid pink diamond and also sets a record for the highest item sold at an auction in Asia.
According to sources, the sale involved three contenders and took a mere five minutes.
Chinese jewellery retailer Chow Tai Fook was the winning bidder, and has renamed the diamond the ‘CTF Pink Star’.
The previous record for the highest price paid for a diamond or jewellery item was set on 18 May 2016 by a blue stone named the Oppenheimer Blue. This diamond fetched US$57.5 million (AU$76.8 m) at a Christie’s auction in Geneva.
The Unique Pink – a 15.3-carat pink diamond – sold for US$31.6 million (AU$42 m) on 17 May, one day before the Oppenheimer Blue sale. It was the record holder for the most valuable fancy vivid pink diamond sold at auction until now.
Past failures
As previously reported by Jeweller, the Pink Star went under the hammer, and seemingly broke the record for the highest paid for a diamond or jewellery item, at a Sotheby’s auction in November 2013.
New York-based diamond cutter Isaac Woolf placed the winning bid of US$83 million (AU$110 m) but the sale fell through after Woolf defaulted on payment. The stone was recorded as part of the auction house’s inventory.
The Pink Star, which is mounted on a ring, is believed to be the largest internally flawless fancy vivid pink diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America.
The Pink Star hails from a 132.5-carat piece of rough that was discovered in 1999. It was cut and polished over a two-year period.