13-10-2017
Sotheby’s will auction ‘The Raj Pink’, the world’s largest known fancy intense pink diamond for an estimated US$20-30 million, the auction house announced on 11 October 2017.
The rare diamond weighing 37.3 carats will take centre stage during Sotheby’s sale of Magnificent Jewels and Nobel Jewels in Geneva on 15 November 2017.
Sotheby’s set the current record price for a fancy intense pink diamond when it sold ‘The Graff Pink’ for US$46.2 million, or US$1.86 million per carat in November 2010. At 24.78 carats, ‘The Graff Pink’ is a third smaller than ‘The Raj Pink’ and has a lighter colour, said Sotheby’s.
“The discovery of any pink diamond is exceptional, but the remarkable size and intensity of colour of ‘The Raj Pink’ place it in the rarefied company of the most important pink diamonds known,” said David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewellery Division.
‘The Raj Pink’ was named by the current owner of the diamond, who wished to remain anonymous. It is based on the Sanskrit word for ‘king’.
The rough diamond which yielded ‘The Raj Pink’ was studied for over a year after its discovery in 2015, before a master cutter turned it into a cushion-modified brilliant cut, according to Sotheby’s.
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) characterised the diamond as an “astonishing stone”, describing its hue as “a very bright and ravishing fancy intense pink colour”. “For a diamond to display strong, unmodified pink colour like that observed in ‘The Raj Pink’ is rare, particularly at so considerable a weight,” GIA commented.
The worldwide exhibition for ‘The Raj Pink’ will be held in Hong Kong during 23-24 October 2017.
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