Pink diamond sells for $83M, sets auction record

Geneva--A 59.60-carat fancy vivid pink diamond called the “Pink Star” set a new world auction record price for any diamond, gemstone or jewel at Sotheby’s Geneva Wednesday when it sold for $83.2 million.

The newly renamed “Pink Dream” diamond is a type IIa internally flawless diamond. It sold for $1.4 million per carat at Sotheby’s Geneva Wednesday.The stone’s new owner, New York diamond cutter Isaac Wolf, renamed the oval-shaped mixed-cut diamond the “Pink Dream.”

The sale of the Pink Dream eclipsed the previous world auction record price of $46.16 million, set in 2010 with the sale of the 24.78-carat “Graff Pink” diamond, purchased and named by diamantaire Laurence Graff.

The auction of the Graff Pink also took place at Sotheby’s Geneva.

“The Pink Star (Dream) is a true masterpiece of nature. Its immense importance was reflected tonight in the strength of the bidding and we are thrilled that the record price it achieved earned it a place in history,” said David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry division in Europe and the Middle East and chairman of Sotheby’s Switzerland. “Today’s record sale is a further testimony to the strength and depth of the diamond and jewelry market.”
 
Overall, Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels sale totaled nearly $200 million, a new world auction record for any jewelry sale. The previous record was set in December 2011 when Christie’s held a sale of jewelry once belonging to the late actress Elizabeth Taylor, bringing in a total of $137.2 million.

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction sold 92 percent by lot and 97 percent by value.

A number of other world auction records were set Wednesday, beginning with the second highest-grossing lot of the auction, the “Walska Briolette Diamond” brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels. Featuring a 96.62-carat fancy vivid yellow briolette diamond, the lot sold for $10.6 million, a world auction record for a Van Cleef & Arpels piece. It was purchased by an anonymous bidder.

A pair of brilliant-cut diamond earrings boasting D color, internally flawless 23.77-carat and 23.78-carat stones sold to an Asian private buyer for $9.2 million, setting a world auction record for a pair of colorless diamonds.

The “Richelieu Sapphires,” earrings featuring 26.66-carat and 20.88-carat Kashmir sapphires with diamonds, sold for $8.4 million to an anonymous bidder, setting world auction records for sapphire jewels, a Kashmir sapphire and price per carat for a sapphire.

A 114.73-carat Burmese sapphire classified