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Hong KongA pink diamond sold for nearly 58 million francs
Pink diamonds are the rarest and most demanded gemstones in the world market.
‘Williamson’s Pink Star’ is named following two other pink diamonds, the record holder ‘CTF Pink Star’ and the ‘Williamson Stone’, a 23.6 carat diamond given as a wedding gift to the Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.
AFP
A pink diamond, a rare stone, sold at auction in Hong Kong on Friday for nearly $58 million, setting a new record for the price per carat of a diamond or gemstone, according to the auction house Sotheby’s.
The 11.15-carat ‘Pink Star of Williamson’ won for HK$453.2 million, or $57.7 million (regarding the same in francs), making it the second-highest prize for a gem sold at auction, Sotheby’s added.
The winning bid, made by a buyer from the Florida city of Boca Raton (United States) whose identity has not been revealed, represented more than double the estimated sale price of 21 million dollars. The coveted object was the second largest pink diamond to be auctioned. Pink diamonds are the rarest and most demanded gemstones in the world market.
“Staggering” sale
The record for a pink diamond was set in 2017, when a stone dubbed “CTF Pink Star” was auctioned off in Hong Kong for $71.2 million. Friday’s sale “is a testament not only to the resilience of demand for premium diamonds in Asia, but also to an increased awareness of the high rarity of pink diamonds,” said Wenhao Yu, head of the department. dedicated to jewelry and watches at Sotheby’s Asia.
‘Williamson’s Pink Star’ is named following two other pink diamonds, the record holder ‘CTF Pink Star’ and the ‘Williamson Stone’, a 23.6 carat diamond given as a wedding gift to the Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.
Tobias Kormind, managing director of British jewelery store 77 Diamonds, said the sale was “astounding” to demonstrate that high-quality diamonds might still fetch high prices in a faltering economy. “Hard assets such as world famous diamonds have (consistently) performed well even in times of volatility,” he commented.
(AFP)
