Auction Record: Pink Diamond Fetches $29m
May 25, 21
(IDEX Online) - The largest purple-pink diamond ever offered at auction sold yesterday for $29.3m, a record high price but far short of its $38m high estimate.
The 15.81-carat type IIa IF diamond (pictured) was named the Sakura Diamond because it perfectly matches the petals of the Sakura cherry blossom.
It was the highlight of a Christie's Hong Kong live auction.
The previous auction record for a purple-pink diamond was set last November by Alrosa's 14.83-carat, internally flawless, oval-cut The Spirit of the Rose, which sold for $27m at Sotheby's in Geneva.
Vickie Sek, chair of Christie's jewelry department, said the sale was an "important chapter in jewelry auction history".
Only four per cent of pink diamonds have a color deep enough to qualify as 'fancy vivid'. Fewer than 10 per cent of pink diamonds weigh over 0.2 carats.