Christie’s Hong Kong Sells Pink Diamond for $32M

RAPAPORT… A pink diamond ring fetched $32 million (HKD 250 million) at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong, less than two weeks after
Sotheby’s failed to sell another diamond of the same color.


The oval-shaped, 14.93-carat, fancy-vivid pink, VVS1-clarity
Pink Promise went for $2.1 million (HKD 16.7 million) per carat at the
Magnificent Jewels sale on Tuesday, according to Christie’s. The final price
was toward the lower end of its pre-sale estimate of $28 million (HKD 220
million) to $41 million (HKD 320 million).


The previous owner, Silicon Valley-based diamantaire Stephen
Silver, bought the stone in June 2013 as a 16.21-carat, fancy intense pink
diamond. Noticing the cut made some parts of it look washed out, he decided to take
on the risky project of re-cutting the stone to a smaller diamond in the hope
of achieving a higher color grade, Silver said Tuesday.


With a final weight of 14.93 carats, the stone — which he
renamed the Pink Promise — received a Gemological Institute of America (GIA) grade
of fancy vivid pink, a higher category.


The Hong Kong auction yielded total proceeds of $93.7
million (HKD 731.1 million). A rectangular-cut, 8.80-carat, fancy intense
pink, VVS1 diamond sold for $9.7 million (HKD 75.5 million), while a necklace
featuring 29 jadeite beads, as well as ruby and old-cut-diamond clasps, went
for $12.3 million (HKD 95.7 million).


The autumn jewelry auction season has been relatively volatile,
with the 37.30-carat, VS1-clarity Raj Pink
failing to find a buyer at Sotheby’s Geneva auction earlier this month, having attracted
an estimate of $19.8 million to $29.8 million. The previous day, Christie’s had
sold a 163.41-carat diamond necklace in the Swiss city for $33.7 million — a
record for a D-color, flawless diamond.