Pink diamond sells for record $57.7M at Hong Kong auction

HONG KONG (AP) — A pink diamond was sold for $57.7 million in Hong Kong on Oct. 7, setting a world record for the highest price per carat for a diamond sold at auction.

The 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star, auctioned by Sotheby’s Hong Kong, fetched close to $5.2 million per carat, exceeding the previous record of $4 million for a blue diamond sold in 2015.

The buyer was a private collector in the United States, Sotheby’s said.

The Williamson Pink Star draws its name from two legendary pink diamonds. The first is the 23.60-carat Williamson Pink Diamond presented to the late Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift in 1947, while the second is the 59.60-carat Pink Star that sold for a record $71.2 million at auction in 2017.

The Williamson Pink Star, the second-largest pink diamond to appear at auction, and Queen Elizabeth’s diamond both came from the Williamson mine in Tanzania. The mine is famous for pink diamonds, which are among the rarest and most valuable of the coloured diamonds.

“This is an astounding result, proving the resilience of top diamonds in a shaky economy,” said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds.

“Hard assets such as world-class diamonds have a history of performing well even in times of instability," he said. “Some of the world’s highest quality diamonds have seen prices double over the last 10 years.”

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This story has been updated to make clear that the final price for the Williamson Pink Star diamond was $57.7 million, not the previously reported “hammer price” of $49.9 million.