Following a spirited bidding battle that lasted a staggering 20 minutes, the 11.5 ct. Williamson Pink Star scored $57.7 million (HK$453.2 million) at an Oct. 5 auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, making it the second most valuable diamond ever sold at auction.
That final result more is nearly three times the gem’s original $21 million estimate.
The fancy vivid internally flawless “bubblegum”-colored cushion-shape Williamson Pink Star also scored a world-record per-carat price for any diamond or gemstone ($5.2 million a carat). The previous per-carat auction record was held by the Blue Moon of Josephine, a 12.03 ct. blue diamond that was also fancy vivid and internally flawless. That sold for $48.5 million in 2016.
The Williamson Pink Star—named after the mine in Tanzania where it was found—was sold at a live single-lot auction. The winning bid came from a private client in Boca Raton, Fla., who, shortly after the sale, renamed the stone the Rosenberg Williamson Pink Star.
You can see the auction in the video below:
The most valuable diamond ever sold at auction remains the CTF Pink Star, which sold at Sotheby’s for $71.2 million in April 2017. That 59.6 ct. oval mixed-cut diamond still holds the world auction record for any diamond, gem, or piece of jewelry.
“The result today not only attests to the resilient demand for top quality diamonds in Asia, but a heightened awareness of the great scarcity of pink diamonds driven by an ever-limited supply,” said Wenhao Yu, chairman of jewelry and watches at Sotheby’s Asia, in a statement.
Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s
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