NEW YORK - A pink diamond of “unparalleled colour and brightness” is expected to fetch over $35 million when it goes on sale in New York, auction house Sotheby’s announced Thursday.
Weighing 10.57 carats and named The Eternal Pink, the “ultra-rare” gemstone will go under the hammer this June, four years after South African firm De Beers discovered it at one of its mines in Botswana. Officially classed as “purplish pink” in colour, it is the most valuable diamond of its shade ever to appear at auction, according to Sotheby’s.
The auction house’s head of jewelry for the Americas, Quig Bruning, said in a statement that the stone was “joining the ranks of the most important diamonds in history.” The price of diamonds is largely determined by what gemology experts call the four “Cs”: carat, cut, colour and clarity. For the latter grading, the stone has been classed as “internally flawless,” meaning any blemishes are only visible under close magnification. Its colour has meanwhile been designated “fancy vivid,” the highest grade of intense colour achieved by only 4% of pink diamonds.
“This colour is the most beautiful and concentrated shade of pink in diamonds that I have ever seen or has ever come to market,” Bruning said, adding: “The Eternal Pink’s immense presence and great rarity make it comparable to ultimate masterpieces of art — far rarer than a Magritte or a Warhol.” Pink diamonds have soared in value in recent years. This is due, in part, to a slump in supply caused by the 2020 closure of Australia’s Argyle Mine, which previously produced most the world’s pink diamonds. According to an index compiled by brokerage Australian Diamond Portfolio, the average price of the colored stones jumped 30% in just the 12 months before June 2021. The Eternal Pink was cut from a rough diamond, discovered in 2019, that at 23.87 carats weighed more than twice as much as it does now. It took diamond firm Diacore six months to transform the stone into its current form.