Auctions

‘Unique Pink’ Could Garner $38 Million at Sotheby’s

AuctionsApr 11, 2016

‘Unique Pink’ Could Garner $38 Million at Sotheby’s

The 15.38-carat diamond will be the largest fancy vivid pink pear shape ever offered at auction when it goes up for sale next month.

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The 15.38-carat pear-shaped “Unique Pink” is not only described as a fancy vivid pink diamond but also was found to be Type IIa, displaying “exceedingly pure structure,” according to the GIA.

Geneva--A rare and exceptional fancy vivid pink diamond could garner as much as $38 million when it goes up for sale in Geneva next month.

The 15.38-carat pear-shaped “Unique Pink” will lead Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels spring sale in Geneva on May 17, where it’s expected to sell in the range of $28 million to $38 million. It will be the largest fancy vivid pink pear-shaped diamond ever offered at auction, according to the auction house.

In addition to being given the strongest saturation possible from the Gemological Institute of America, the Unique Pink also was found to be Type IIa, displaying “exceedingly pure structure.”

The monograph written by the GIA for the stone states, “It is exceptionally rare for any natural diamond to reveal fancy vivid pink color, but for one of 15.38 carats to exhibit such tone and saturation is astonishing.”

The rough diamond that yielded the Unique Pink was cut and polished by Cora International.

Sotheby’s currently holds the auction records for blue, pink, yellow, green and colorless diamonds.

The world auction record for any pink diamond was set by the Graff Pink, a 24.78-carat emerald-cut fancy intense pink diamond that sold at Sotheby’s Geneva in November 2010 for $46.2 million, or $1.9 million per carat.

The world auction record and record price per carat for any diamond or gemstone, meanwhile, currently is held by the Blue Moon of Josephine. The 12.03-carat cushion-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond sold for $48.5 million, or $4 million per carat, at Sotheby’s Geneva in November.

Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.

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