A pink diamond discovered in South Africa, over a century ago has been sold for a record-breaking $50 million on Tuesday.
The rare 19-carat pink diamond was auctioned in Geneva, reports NDTV
British auction house, Christie’s said, the sale of the pink diamond had set a new per carat record for a stone of its kind.The diamond, which has been dubbed the Pink Legacy, once belonged to the Oppenheimer family which for decades ran the De Beers diamond mining company.
It was snapped up by American luxury brand, Harry Winston, part of the Swiss Swatch group.
“$2.6 million per carat. That is a world record per carat for a pink diamond,” said Francois Curiel, head of Christie’s in Europe.
“This stone is for me the Leonardo da Vinci of diamonds,” he added.
The stone was has been rechristened the “Winston Pink Legacy” by its new owners.
Christie’s international head of jewellery, Rahul Kadakia, described The Pink Legacy as “one of the world’s greatest diamonds”.
The rectangular-cut diamond has been graded “fancy vivid” — the highest possible grade of colour intensity.he stone was discovered in a South African mine around a century ago and was probably cut in the 1920s and has not been altered since, Christie’s said.