An Asian man has paid a record $31.6 million for an extremely rare 15.38 carat pear-shaped pink diamond auctioned at Sotheby’s, making it the most expensive fancy vivid pink diamond ever to go under t
An Asian man has paid a record $31.6 million for an extremely rare 15.38 carat pear-shaped pink diamond auctioned at Sotheby’s, making it the most expensive fancy vivid pink diamond ever to go under the hammer.
The rare gem called the Unique Pink is set in a simple ring and was bought on Tuesday by an Asian private buyer who bid for it over the telephone. His identity has not been disclosed.
“The Unique Pink set a new world record for a fancy vivid pink diamond. Its the highest price ever paid for a fancy vivid pink diamond,” David Bennett, world-wide chairman of Sotheby’s international jewellery division, told the reporters.
“It is difficult to imagine a diamond which better illustrates the term vivid pink for its outstanding stone. The colour is simply astonishing,” Mr Bennett was quoted as saying by the CNN on Wednesday. The most expensive pink diamond ever to sell at auction remains the 24.78 carat Graff Pink, which sold for $46.2 million at Sotheby’s in November 2010. However, the previous record of the unique pink sale, set by the Sweet Josephine and auctioned in November last year, was eclipsed by the fancy vivid pink diamond. The 16.08 carat diamond had sold for $28.5 million to Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau, who purchased it for his then 7-year-old daughter.
The Unique Pink was discovered nearly five years ago in a South African mine. The seller was the New York-based company Cora International.
