Everything you need to know about the enormous pink Sakura Diamond at Christie’s auction

You wouldn’t be able to keep your eyes off it.

It’s natural, pretty in pink and completely captivating. No, we’re not talking about the cherry blossoms blooming all over Japan this springtime, but the super rare Sakura Diamond that Christie’s is offering up for auction.

The prized purple-pink gem is set to be a part of the house’s upcoming Magnificent Jewels event in Hong Kong, and it certainly qualifies. The Sakura Diamond is the largest of its kind to ever go under the hammer; it weighs a hefty 15.81 carats, which is impressive when you consider that less than 10 per cent of pink diamonds in the world ever weigh more than a fifth of a carat.

Those rosy stones have a history of performing well at auctions. The “Pink Legacy”, which weighed almost 19 carats, was sold by Christie’s for US$50,660,000 in 2018. Before that, the famous Graff Pink diamond, once owned by American jeweller Harry Winston, was auctioned off in 2010 for US$46 million, becoming the most expensive diamond in the world at the time.

Like those pink diamonds, the Sakura Diamond qualifies as a Fancy Vivid gem, which is the highest grade offered to coloured diamonds that display a brilliant saturation. But what makes it remarkable is its even rarer colour: a pink hue with purple undertones, closely resembling the petals of cherry blossom (or, in Japanese, “sakura”) flowers.

The Sakura Diamond, like other natural pink diamonds, gets its hue thanks to a distortion of its molecular lattice — a completely random phenomenon that occurs in only less than two per cent of all diamonds in the world. And the Sakura Diamond doesn’t just boast rarity; it has clarity too. It falls under the “Internally Flawless” category of diamonds, meaning it has no visible inclusions. In other words, it’s crystal clear.

All of this makes for a gemstone of mythical proportions. “This exceptionally rare and magnificent wonder of nature… will undoubtedly capture the hearts of discerning connoisseurs and collectors worldwide,” shared Vickie Sek, Chairman of Christie’s Jewellery Asia. Come 23 May, the Sakura Diamond will be up for bidding and is expected to fetch up to HK$300 million.

(Header image credit: Christie’s Images Ltd; Featured image credit: Fabrice Coffrini / Getty Images)

This article first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Singapore.