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| Courtesy of Sotheby's |
“The Pink Star” diamond will be given a second chance to smash world auction records. The Largest Internally Flawless Fancy Vivid Pink diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America will be placed on the auction block for the second time at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite sale on April 4.
The 59.60-carat oval-cut diamond has an estimate is more than $60 million, which, if matched, will be a world auction record.
The diamond first sold for a remarkable $83 million at Sotheby’s Geneva in November 2013, a figure that remains the highest ever for a diamond to this day. However, in February 2014, in its annual report, Sotheby’s said the consortium of buyers, led by diamond cutter Isaac Wolf, had defaulted on the sale. The diamond was placed in its inventory valued at approximately $72 million. The auction house reportedly had to buy back the diamond for $60 million because it had guaranteed that price to the original seller of the diamond.
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| Courtesy of Sotheby's |
In June 2016 Sotheby’s announced it has entered into a partnership with two other firms, Diacore and Mellen Inc., for the diamond.
Diacore is a multi-national company that specializes in the manufacturing of large, fancy colored and rare stones. The company said it was the original owner of the 132.50-carat rough diamond that created the Pink Star.
Mellen Inc. is a third generation, family run private jeweler based in New York.
View a video of The Pink Star diamond on Sotheby's website.
“At a time of unprecedented demand for the finest in colored diamonds, I am delighted to be bringing this magnificent stone back to the market,” David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division, said in a statement. “The extraordinary size of this 59.60-carat diamond, paired with its richness of color, surpasses any known pink diamond recorded in history.”
Currently, the world’s most valuable diamond sold at auction is the 14.62-carat “Oppenheimer Blue,” which sold for more than $57.5 million at Christie’s Geneva sale held May 18, 2016. The Pink Star has the possibility of not only breaking the record but shattering it.
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| Courtesy of Sotheby's |
The Pink Star is graded as Type IIa, which is rare for any pink diamond, much less one of this size and color. It originated from a 132.5-carat rough mined by De Beers in 1999 and was cut and polished over a period of two years. The Pink Star is more than twice the size of the Graff Pink—a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink diamond that established a world auction record for any pink diamond sold at auction. It sold for $46.2 million, at Sotheby’s Geneva in 2010.
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