Sotheby’s Geneva will offer a 10.99-ct. pink diamond at its Magnificent & Noble Jewels sale on May 17. It is being offered for sale from a private collection and has not appeared on the market for more than 30 years. It has a pre-auction estimate of $9 to $16 million.
The diamond features a classic emerald cut, normally associated with white diamonds. This type of cut is highly sought-after when found in rare colors such as pink and blue, Sotheby’s said. This gem, mounted as a ring, has been graded “fancy intense pink,” natural color and VS1 clarity. It’s further assessed to be type IIa, meaning it is almost or entirely devoid of impurities with extraordinary optical transparency. Fewer than 2 percent of all diamonds in the world are given this grade of purity and most of those diamonds are white.
Colored diamonds are very desirable on the auction market right now. In November 2010, Sotheby’s Geneva set a world auction record for any diamond and any jewel when it sold the 24.78-ct. Graff Pink for $46.15 million.
“I do not remember the market for colored diamonds to have ever been as strong as it is today,” said David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Department for Europe and the Middle East.