Christie’s Sells Orange Diamond for Auction Record $35.5M

(IDEX Online News) – Christie’s Geneva sold the largest fancy vivid orange diamond ever offered at auction, weighing 14.82 carats, for a record $35,540,612, or $2.4 million per carat.

The sale set a world record price per carat for any diamond sold at auction, as well as a world record price for an orange diamond.

In total, Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction raised a record $125,360,131, selling 89 percent by lot and 96 percent by value.

Among the other jewels sold, 'The Andean Rockefeller’, formerly part of the collection of Simón Itturi Patiño, sold well above their pre-sale estimates totaling $14.7 million.

And the jewelry collection of Parisian style icon Hélène Rochas was completely sold, generating a total of $2.3 million.

François Curiel, International Head of Christie's Jewellery Department, said: “Time and again, a stone will appear on the market that is truly a miracle of nature. The 14.82-carat orange diamond is one such a stone, a rare gem, which will perhaps only be seen once in a lifetime.

He added that "it soared far above all previous records for any orange diamond ever sold at auction, placing The Orange amongst the greatest pinks and blues, which are traditionally the most appreciated colored diamonds.”