The big pink generated lots of green yesterday.
The Spirit of the Rose, the world’s largest vivid purple-pink diamond ever to appear at auction, sold for $26.6 million during Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction Nov. 11 in Geneva, setting a global auction record for a purple-pink diamond. The record breaking was anticipated—JCK reported this summer on talk that the gem could fetch up to $60 million, though by October its estimates had come down to $23 million to $38 million.
Mined and cut by diamond producer Alrosa, the 14.83 ct. diamond was graded fancy vivid and internally flawless by the GIA. It was cut from Nijinsky, a rare 27.85 ct. piece of rough found in the Siberian province of Yakutia in July 2017; taking its name from the renowned Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, the piece of rough is the largest pink crystal ever mined in Russia.
Named by Alrosa for the famous ballet in which Vaslav Nijinksy performed, the Spirit of the Rose diamond was bought by an anonymous buyer over the phone.
Benoit Repellin, head of Sotheby’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels’ auction and the sale’s auctioneer, said in a prepared statement, “The Spirit of the Rose caught the imagination of everyone who had the chance to see it. With its size, beautiful color, perfect cut, and oval shape, it is a wonder of nature, steeped in Russia’s century-long diamond tradition and cultural heritage. It fully deserves the price achieved tonight, which is also testament to the growing appreciation and awareness of the great scarcity of pink diamonds around the world.”
He added, “With the supply of these beautiful stones becoming ever more limited, these gems are likely to continue to become even more prized.”
The diamond took a year to cut at the company’s cutting factory, JCK’s Rob Bates reported in August, noting that pink diamonds sometimes require special care, “as they have a certain level of internal stress than can cause cleavage.”
Sotheby’s has sold some of the most valuable pink diamonds in the world, JCK’s Amy Elliott reported last month, including the CTF Pink Star, a 59.6 ct. oval that sold for $71.2 million, a world auction record for any gemstone or jewel, in April 2017.
Top photo: The Spirit of the Rose diamond (all photos courtesy of Sotheby’s)
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