According to Sotheby's, a rare pink diamond sold in Hong Kong for roughly $58 million, establishing a record for price per carat paid at auction for any diamond or gemstone. Sotheby's stated that the 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star fetched HK$453.2 million ($57.7 million) on Friday, the second-highest price paid at auction for any diamond. The winning bid was made by an unidentified bidder from Boca Raton, Florida, and was more than double the expected $21 million sale price.
Rare Pink Diamond
The pink diamond was the second-largest ever sold at auction. Pink diamonds are the rarest and most valuable precious jewels on the global market. The world record for a pink diamond was achieved in 2017 when the CTF Pink Star was sold for $71.2 million in Hong Kong.
According to Wenhao Yu, chairman of jewellery and watches at Sotheby's Asia, Friday's sale "not only attests to the strong demand for high grade diamonds in Asia, but also a heightened awareness of the tremendous rarity of pink diamonds." The Williamson Pink Star was named after two other pink diamonds: the world-record-breaking CTF Pink Star and the Williamson Stone, a 23.6-carat diamond presented to Queen Elizabeth as a wedding present.
Tobias Kormind, managing director of UK jewel shop 77 Diamonds, said the "amazing" transaction demonstrated that high-quality diamonds could still command premium prices even in a difficult market. "Hard assets, such as world-class diamonds, have a track record of doing well even in times of uncertainty," he added.
