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Pink Diamond Auctioned Off For A Record $50 Million
(Kitco News) - Christie's has auctioned off the 'Pink Legacy' 19-carat diamond for a world record price of $50 million, the auction house said.
The buyer was revealed as the U.S.-based luxury jeweler Harry Winston, owned by Swatch.
“The Pink Legacy brought this extremely high price of $50 million, so $2.6 million per carat which is a world record price for a pink diamond,” Christie's chairman Francois Curiel told reporters on Tuesday. “This stone for me is the Leonardo Da Vinci of diamonds, I don't think there is anything better.”
The diamond, which is graded “vivid”, has a rectangular cut, and is placed on a platinum ring, once belonged to the Oppenheimer Family, who turned De Beers into the diamond-mining giant it is today.
This kind of gem is very rare, as majority of pink diamonds like the “Pink Legacy” are much smaller, averaging less than one carat in weight, Christie’s said.
#AuctionUpdate THE WINSTON PINK LEGACY realises $50,375,000, achieving a #WorldAuctionRecord price per carat for a pink #diamond https://t.co/YGqE9riTel pic.twitter.com/CmKZ2Ds9s2
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) November 14, 2018
The bidding lasted for about five minutes and was part of Christie's fall jewelry auction in Geneva.
The winning bid was $44.5 million, which excluded buyer's premium and other fees. The final sale price totaled $50.375 million.
“We are proud to continue in the Winston tradition of acquiring the finest gems in the world,” Harry Winston CEO Nayla Hayek said in a statement.
Christie’s has made a total of $110 million from the auction, with more than 85% of lots sold successfully, said Curiel.
