Pink diamond sells for nearly $58 million in Hong Kong

A rare pink diamond has sold in Hong Kong for nearly $58 million, setting a record for price per carat paid at auction for any diamond or gemstone, according to Sotheby's.

The 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star on Friday fetched HK$453.2 million ($57.7 million), the second-highest price paid at auction for any jewel, Sotheby's added.

The winning bid, by an undisclosed buyer from Boca Raton, Florida, was more than twice the estimated $21 million sale price.

The stone was the second-largest pink diamond to be sold at auction. Pink diamonds are the rarest of the precious gems and the most in-demand on the global market.

The world record for a pink diamond was set in 2017, when a stone known as the CTF Pink Star was sold in Hong Kong for $71.2 million.

Friday's sale "not only attests to the resilient demand for top quality diamonds in Asia, but a heightened awareness of the great scarcity of pink diamonds", said Wenhao Yu, chairman of jewellery and watches at Sotheby's Asia.

The Williamson Pink Star was named after two other pink diamonds: the record-setting CTF Pink Star and the Williamson Stone, a 23.6-carat diamond given as a wedding present to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.

Tobias Kormind, managing director of UK jewel retailer 77 Diamonds, said the "astounding" sale proved high-quality diamonds could still fetch major prices in a shaky economy.

"Hard assets such as world-class diamonds have a history of performing well even in times of instability," he said.

hol/smw

SOTHEBY'S

Related Links
Carbon Worlds - where graphite, diamond, amorphous, fullerenes meet

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Fossil fuel reserves contain 3.5 tn tonnes of CO2: database
Paris (AFP) Sept 18, 2022
Burning the world's remaining fossil fuel reserves would unleash 3.5 trillion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions - seven times the remaining carbon budget to cap global heating at 1.5C - according to the first public inventory of hydrocarbons released Monday. Human activity since the Industrial Revolution, largely powered by coal, oil and gas, has led to just under 1.2 degrees Celsius of warming and brought with it ever fiercer droughts, floods and storms supercharged by rising seas. The Unit ... read more