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AuctionsMay 31, 2016
5-carat fancy vivid pink goes for $9.6M
A 5.50-carat fancy vivid pink diamond topped its highest pre-sale estimate by $2 million at Christie’s Tuesday, making it the latest colored diamond to turn in a strong performance at auction.
New York--A 5.50-carat fancy vivid pink diamond topped its highest pre-sale estimate by $2 million at Christie’s Tuesday, making it the latest colored diamond to turn in a strong performance at auction.
The oval-cut, VVS1 stone, expected to garner between $6.5 and $7.5 million, sold to a member of the New York trade for $9.6 million.
The sale of this oval-cut fancy vivid pink follows the May auction of the “Winston Blue” for $23.8 million at Christie’s Geneva and the sale of the vivid blue-green “Ocean Dream” for $8.6 million, meaning that these three colored diamonds garnered a total of $42 million.
RELATED CONTENT: Aided by big blue, Christie’s sale sets new record
Rahul Kadakia, international head of Christie’s Jewelry, said that colored diamonds are having a “fabulous” run at Christie’s this spring, noting that multiple phone bidders were calling in to buy the vivid pink.
All told, Christie’s Important Jewels sale, which was held in New York, sold 85 percent by value and 83 percent by lot, with 187 of the 225 lots offered purchased.
The second highest-grossing lot of the sale was a diamond ring by Taffin set with a 20.08-carat rectangular-cut D color, VVS1 and potentially internally flawless diamond. Purchased by a member of the international trade, the ring went for $3.1 million, within its estimated range.
Rounding out the sale’s top three was a 5.91-carat rectangular-cut fancy light pink VS1 diamond that sold to a member of the New York Trade for $1.8 million, more than doubling its highest pre-sale estimate of $675,000.
Five of the top 10 lots in the sale went to members of the jewelry trade in New York, with the rest distributed among private buyers from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and members of the international and European trade.
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