The world’s most expensive diamond is coming to Hong Kong

Update: Hong Kong-based jeweller Chow Tai Fook won the auction for ‘The Pink Star’ earlier this week, settling on the record-breaking price of HK$553 million. This is the highest figure a precious stone has ever fetched at auction, beating last year’s record of HK$441 million for the ‘Oppenheimer Blue’. The jeweller acquired the pink diamond in part to celebrate its 88th anniversary this year, and it has renamed the gem ‘The CTF Pink Star’. Read more about the history of this breathtaking gemstone below.

The most valuable polished diamond ever to come to auction will make an appearance in Hong Kong next week, as Sotheby’s Hong Kong hosts their ‘Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite’ sale at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre on 4 April 2017.

Weighing in at a eye-popping 59.60 carats, this magnificent, oval-cut diamond, ‘The Pink Star’, was originally sold to New York diamond cutter Isaac Wolf at a Sotheby’s Geneva auction in 2013, making major headlines with a world-record price of US$83 million (approx. HK$673 million). Though Wolf made plans to rename the piece ‘The Pink Dream’, his payment was never settled, and so the diamond is up for auction once again.

Today, ‘The Pink Star’ remains the largest internally flawless, fancy vivid pink diamond ever graded by the GIA (Gemological Institute of America), holding an estimated value of over US$60 million (approx. HK$468 million). At 59.60 carats, this gem is twice the size of any vivid pink diamond to have ever been brought to auction, including the Graff Pink — a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink diamond that set a world auction record at US$46.2 million (approx. HK$374 million) in 2010. It is also graded as Type IIa, which is extremely rare for any pink diamond, especially one of this size.

Announcing the forthcoming sale, David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division, said, “At a time of unprecedented demand for the finest in coloured diamonds, I am delighted to be bringing this magnificent stone back to the market. The extraordinary size of this 59.60-carat diamond, paired with its richness of colour, surpasses any known pink diamond recorded in history.”

Mined by De Beers in South Africa in 1999, this beautiful gem was originally discovered in the form of a 132.5-carat rough. It was then meticulously cut and polished under extreme caution by Steinmetz Diamonds, which took almost two years to complete. It was eventually revealed to the public as ‘Steinmetz Pink’ for the very first time in May 2003, before changing its name to ‘The Pink Star’ following a private sale in 2007.

For those who would like to take a close look at this extraordinary gem, ‘The Pink Star’ will be on view from 31 March to 3 April, before going under the hammer at HKCEC (Hall 5) on 4 April.

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, sothebys.com