This week Sotheby’s unveiled one of the world’s purest, most saturated pink diamonds ahead of its standalone, single-lot auction scheduled for 5 October in Hong Kong with a presale estimate of HKD 170 million ($21 million).
At 11.15 carats, the Williamson Pink Star is second-largest internally flawless, fancy vivid pink diamond to ever appear at auction. Yielded from a 32-carat rough diamond at the Williamson Mine in Tanzania, the Williamson Pink Star has since been masterfully cut into a dazzling cushion-cut, bringing out the diamond’s innermost beauty to full display.
It is the second-largest diamond of that color and clarity ever to feature at auction, behind the 59.60-carat CTF Pink Star, which fetched a record $71.2 million at Sotheby’s in 2017.
“Driven by a limited supply and rising demand, prices for top-quality large pink diamonds over 5 carats have increased exponentially over the past decade,” said Wenhao Yu, chairman of jewelry and watches at Sotheby’s Asia. Especially with the closure of the Argyle Mine in Western Australia, nearly two years ago, the source of more than 90 percent of the world’s pink diamonds, and demand for the rarefied gems has trended upward in the face of rapidly dwindling supply.
Discovered at the Williamson Mine in Tanzania—the same mine that produced the Queen’s Williamson diamond—the Williamson Pink Star originated as a 32-carat rough diamond bearing the fine “bubblegum” pink hue for which the mine, one of the oldest operating diamond mines in the world, is known.
video courtesy of Sotheby's
The current price per carat auction record for a fancy vivid pink diamond is $2,656,909 for the 18.96-carat Winston Pink Legacy, sold in 2018 by Christie’s Geneva.
The largest internally flawless, fancy vivid pink diamond offered at auction is the 59.60-carat CTF Pink Star. It was sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2017 for $71.2 million, a world record for any gem or jewel sold at auction. At the estimated price, the stone would sell for around $1.9 million per carat. That compares with $1.2 million per carat for the CTF Pink Star.