Fancy Intense Pink Diamond Sold for $1M P/C at Auction

(IDEX Online News) - Lev Leviev’s retail outfit bought a 10.99 carats fancy intense pink / VS1 diamond for $10.84 million at Sotheby’s Magnificent & Noble Jewels auction yesterday (Tuesday). Though the price leans toward the lower end of the pre-auction estimate, it is the third highest price paid for a pink diamond and ninth highest price for a diamond at auction.

The Type IIa, GIA certified diamond was estimated at $9-16 million. It was offered for sale from a private collection and has not appeared on the market for more than 30 years, the auction house said.

The headline item of the auction, a unique emerald and diamond tiara, sold for $12.74 million, the highest price ever achieved for a tiara at auction.

A ruby and diamond ring sold for $4.27 million, and a Graff ring set with a 16.53 carat diamond closed at $2.88 million.

By the end of the sale, 433 of the 479 offered lots were sold for $89.12 million.

According to David Bennett, Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Department for Europe and the Middle East, the results “show the extraordinary appetite among connoisseurs for rarity, quality and provenance.”