‘Pink Star’ diamond sells for record-breaking £57m
A rare diamond known as the ‘Pink Star’ has been sold at auction in Hong Kong for $71m (£57m) – a new world record for any gemstone sold at auction.
The oval-cut pink diamond, which weighs almost 60 carats, is the largest internally flawless vivid pink diamond that the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has ever verified.
It was sold to Isaac Wolf, a famous New York-based diamond cutter, and a group of investors in 2013 but the deal later fell apart. Sotheby’s was forced to buy the diamond from its seller because it had guaranteed a $60m (£48m) sale price.
It is believed the stone was purchased by Hong Kong jewellery retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery after just five minutes of bidding.
It breaks the record previously held by the Oppenheimer Blue diamond, which sold for $57.5m (£39.5m) at Christie’s auction in Geneva last May.
Tobias Kormind, managing director at 77 Diamonds, said: “The supply demand equation for diamonds right now means diamonds are very much here to stay. Numbers of high net worth individuals are growing while the supply of rare diamonds is diminishing.”
