Sotheby’s to Auction $60 Million Pink Diamond in Geneva

"The Pink Star," a 59.60-carat colored
diamond. The oval-cut stone, the
largest internally flawless fancy vivid
pink diamond ever graded by
Gemological Institute of America (GIA),
is estimated to raise more than $60
million -- a record for any gemstone at
auction -- when it is sold by Sotheby's
in Geneva on Nov. 13. Photographer:
Alastair Laidlaw/Sotheby's via
Bloomberg
A 59.60-carat pink diamond is estimated
to raise more than $60 million, a record
for any gemstone at auction, when it is
sold in Switzerland in November.
The oval-cut stone, the largest internally
flawless fancy vivid pink diamond ever
graded by the Gemological Institute of
America (GIA), will be sold by Sotheby’s
(BID) in Geneva on Nov. 13, the New
York-based auction house said today in a
statement.
The sale of the ``Pink Star” will follow a
Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong in
October containing a white and a blue
diamond valued at more than $28 million
and $19 million each.
“This is a good time to sell important
stones at auction,” the Karlsruhe-based
jewelry dealer Otto Jakob said in an
interview. “Wealthy people with a lot of
cash fear their money is endangered.
They’re putting it into goods.”
Investment-grade diamonds attract
buyers as both status symbols and hedges
against volatility in the financial markets.
Colored stones, which account for about
0.01 percent of mined production, are
prized for their rarity and command the
highest price per carat.
“Over the last five years buyers in Asia
have built up stocks of diamonds,” said
Jakob, who exhibits at the annual TEFAF
fair in the Dutch city of Maastricht. “That’s
reduced the number on the market and
prices have increased a lot. There’s a lot
of demand for the highest quality colored
stones.”
Monaco Exhibition
Entered by an unidentified seller, the
“Pink Star” was mined by De Beers in
Africa . It was cut and polished by
Steinmetz Diamonds for two years before
being exhibited in Monaco in 2003.
That year, it was included in the
“Splendor of Diamonds” exhibition at the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
alongside the De Beers Millennium Star,
the Allnatt diamond, and the Moussaieff
Red.
The diamond, initially known as “The
Steinmetz Pink,” was sold privately in 2007
for an undisclosed amount and
subsequently renamed.
The “Pink Star” is more than twice the size
of the 24.78-carat “Graff Pink,” which sold
for a record $45.6 million at Sotheby’s in
Geneva in 2010.
If the Pink Star finds a buyer, pink
diamonds will have set all three of the
highest auction prices for gemstones sold
at auction. The 34.65-carat “Princie” fancy
intense pink raised $39.3 million at
Christie’s International in New York in
April.
Pink diamonds are Type II stones that
derive their color from the process known
as plastic deformation, whereby pressure
changes create structural anomalies
during the crystal growth.
The inherent desirability of pink as a color
has been enhanced by the publicity
surrounding certain specific diamonds.
The “Pink Panther ” was a fictitious
gemstone that featured in the 1963 movie
of that title starring Peter Sellers.
Hollywood actor Ben Affleck presented
Jennifer Lopez with a 6.1-carat pink
diamond engagement ring from Harry
Winston in 2002.
Muse highlights include Martin Gayford
on art and Frederik Balfour on Chinese
auctions.