Hong Kong jewellery company Chow Tai Fook has paid a record HK$553 million (US$71.2 million), including fees, for the illustrious Pink Star diamond.
This makes the diamond the most expensive precious stone sold at auction. The sale relieves auction house Sotheby’s of unwanted inventory it was forced to take on three years ago.
Measuring 2.69cm by 2.06cm and set on a ring, the 59.6-carat stone is the largest “internally flawless fancy vivid pink” diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America, the industry arbiter. It is more than twice the size of the 24.8-carat Graff Pink, previously the most expensive pink diamond, which fetched US$46.2 million including fees in Geneva in 2010.
The previous record holder for any diamond was the Oppenheimer Blue, a 14.6-carat “vivid blue”, which sold for 56.9 million Swiss francs (US$56.7 million) in Geneva last May.
Chow Tai Fook, owned by the family of late tycoon Cheng Yu-tung, last year bought a 5.03-carat green diamond, Aurora Green, for HK$130 million at auction, and a 507-carat Cullinan Heritage rough diamond for HK$275 million in 2010. The Cullinan Heritage was subsequently cut and turned into a necklace.
Asia overtook the US last year as the largest auction market, prompting Sotheby’s to opt for Hong Kong instead of Geneva to sell the Pink Star. The Swiss city is the traditional centre for sales to dealers.
“Industry buyers remain the biggest market for large precious stones, but we are seeing great potential for growth among Asian private collectors. That’s why we did not sell this in Geneva,” says Sotheby’s Asia chairwoman Patti Wong.
Sotheby’s initially sold the Pink Star in 2013 after New York cutter Isaac Wolf, acting on behalf of Ukrainian investors, made a record bid of 68 million Swiss franc for it. However, says Wong, his backers failed to come up with the money.
Sotheby’s had made a pre-sale guarantee to the seller for the diamond, then estimated at US$60 million, and had to buy it when the sale fell through. It placed the diamond in its inventory with a value of US$72 million.