'Pink Star' Diamond Fetches Record US$71.2mln at Sothey's Hong Kong Auction

A rare pink diamond has fetched a record US$71.2mln at a Sotheby’s (NYSE:BID) auction in Hong Kong today.

At 59.60 carats, the ‘Pink Star’ was the largest ever polished diamond to be auctioned and beat Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of US$60mln.

Sotheby’s said the oval mixed-cut diamond was sold to Hong Kong jewellery company Chow Tai Fook, which phoned in a bid.

The gem was sold in November 2013 at an even higher price of US$83mln at another Sotheby’s auction in Geneva. However, the deal fell apart after the buyer, New York-based diamond cutter Isaac Wolf, defaulted.

Sotheby’s was forced to buy the diamond from the seller because it had guaranteed a US$60mln sale price. The auction house tried its luck again in Asia, where it said it has seen rising demand from wealthy buyers.

“The Asian element in the jewelry market is extremely important and from what I’ve been hearing from members of the trade I’ve been talking to, in the last six months they have become more and more important,” said David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s jewellery division.

‘Pink Star’, which was mined in Africa by De Beers in 1999 as a raw 132.5 carat gem and cut over two years, is the most expensive diamond ever sold at an auction.

The 14.62 carat ‘Oppenheimer Blue’ previously held the record, selling for US$57.5mln at a Christie’s auction in Geneva last May.  

The prior record for a pink diamond was US$46.2mln for the 24.78 carat ‘Graff Pink’ in 2010.

Story by ProactiveInvestors