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Reuters

The "Pink Star", a flawless pink diamond, has sold for US$83 million in Geneva, a world record price for any gem at auction.
"The diamond was bought by Isaac Wolf and the diamond has been renamed The Pink Dream," said Matthew Weigman, Sotheby's worldwide director of sales communications.
Wolf, a New York-based diamond cutter, was represented by a bidder in the room and Sotheby's said the final sale price included the "buyer's premium", or commission fees.
Four people, including two Asian clients, bid on the oval-shaped diamond, which was mounted on a ring and weighed 59.60 carats, he said.
As auctioneer David Bennett brought down the hammer in the Geneva salesroom, applause erupted. "You'll forgive me," he said, as the theme song from the Pink Panther films was played.
The Pink Star was the star lot at Sotheby's jewels sale in Geneva, held in a heavily guarded hotel showroom.
It was the highest jewellery sale total for a single auction in history - US$199.5 million, Sotheby's said.
"This was a really historic sale. We broke a number of records," Bennett said. "The Pink Star diamond, I have no hesitation in saying, is a truly amazing stone, fit for any royal collection, fit for any museum collection.
"There is no stone of that size and colour known, no other stone."
Noting that the diamond's pre-sale estimate was US$61 million, Bennett said: "It surpassed our estimate. It's a large amount of money in itself, but I don't think this stone has a price."
The previous record was held by the "Graff Pink", a 24.78 carat fancy intense pink diamond bought in 2010 by Laurence Graff, a London-based jeweller known as "The King of Diamonds". He paid US$45.75 million.
"Frankly when I sold the Graff three years ago, I thought it would be a record for a very long time. Tonight's price is really quite extraordinary three years later," Bennett said.
"It means the three top prices paid for gemstones are all pink diamonds."
The Pink Star was cut and polished from a 132.5 carat rough diamond mined by De Beers somewhere in Africa in 1999, according to Sotheby's, which said it had no information on the precise geographic origin.

	The Pink Star diamond is a truly amazing stone, fit for any royal collection

	AUCTIONEER DAVID BENNETT
The diamond was first sold in 2007 and the seller wished to remain anonymous, said a Sotheby's spokeswoman.
Signature pieces by top-end European jewellers including Cartier, Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels fetched steep prices at Sotheby's, especially from the Art Deco period of the 1930s. The second highest price at the auction, US$10.5 million, was fetched by a 1971 Van Cleef & Arpels brooch of a phoenix, set with diamonds, emeralds and a large cabochon sapphire with a detachable yellow briolette diamond hanging from the bird's beak.
The brooch previously belonged to the late Polish opera star and jewellery collector Ganna Walska. Few lots were unsold at the auction and the prices achieved were generally many times more than their pre-sale estimates.
About a dozen jewels from the collection of French countess Odile de la Rochefoucauld were sold for the benefit of charity.
They included a sautoir composed of 630 pearls sold for US$196,000.
"Believe it or not, it's 3.5 feet long and was used for skipping by the young girls in the house. But you don't have to use it for skipping - you can wear it," Bennett quipped.


'Pink Star' diamond is sold for world record US$83m at Geneva auction

A model gets a close-up of the eye-catching Pink Star, which sold for a record price at an auction in Geneva after four people, including two Asians, made bids. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Diamond cutter based in New York snaps up 59.60-carat gemstone at Sotheby's sale in Geneva


The "Pink Star", a flawless pink diamond, has sold for US$83 million in Geneva, a world record price for any gem at auction.


'Pink Star' diamond is sold for world record US$83m at Geneva auction

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Diamond cutter based in New York snaps up 59.60-carat gemstone at Sotheby's sale in Geneva

Diamond cutter based in New York snaps up 59.60-carat gemstone at Sotheby's sale in Geneva