The Williamson Pink Star diamond, in an undated image received from Sotheby’s auction house on October 8, 2022 (Sotheby’s/AFP/Handout)
A pink diamond, a rare stone, sold at auction in Hong Kong on Friday for nearly $58 million, setting a new record for the price per carat of a diamond or gemstone, according to the auction house Sotheby’s.
The 11.15-carat “Pink Star of Williamson” fetched HK$453.2 million, or $57.7 million, making it the second-highest prize for a gem sold at auction, added Sotheby’s.
The winning offer, made by a buyer from the Florida city of Boca Raton (United States) whose identity has not been revealed, represented more than double the sale price estimated at 21 million dollars.
The coveted object was the second largest pink diamond to be auctioned. Pink diamonds are the rarest and most demanded gemstones in the world market.
The record for a pink diamond was set in 2017, when a stone dubbed “CTF Pink Star” was auctioned off in Hong Kong for $71.2 million.
Friday’s sale “is a testament not only to the resilience of demand for premium diamonds in Asia, but also to an increased awareness of the high rarity of pink diamonds,” said Wenhao Yu, head of the department. dedicated to jewelry and watches at Sotheby’s Asia.
“Williamson’s Pink Star” is named after two other pink diamonds, the record holder “CTF Pink Star” and the “Williamson Stone”, a 23.6 carat diamond given as a wedding gift to the Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.
Tobias Kormind, managing director of British jewelery retailer 77 Diamonds, said the “astounding” sale demonstrated that high-quality diamonds could still fetch high prices in a struggling economy.
“Hard assets such as world-famous diamonds have (consistently) performed well even in times of volatility,” he commented.
© 2022 AFP
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