Pink Panther Diamond Ring to Sell for £24 Million

The Pink Panther diamond goes on sale next month, with odds looking up for it to become the most expensive diamond ever to be sold, as it is believed it will fetch no less than £24 million.

Quite a hefty amount for an engagement ring.

Luckily, it’s not meant to be that, since it’s a collector’s piece, with several potential customers already expressing interest in it, despite the exorbitant price tag, This Is Money informs.

The Pink Panther diamond weighs 25 carats and was created by Harry Winston, jeweler to the stars. For the past 60 years, it’s been in a private collection but will exchange hands (and owners) next month.

Pre-sale estimates indicate that the diamond could become the world’s most expensive stone, with odds to sell for anything in between $27 million and $38 million (£17 – £24 million).

Even if it fetches the lowest estimate, it would still knock the previous record holder, a 35-carat Wittelsbach diamond that sold for £16.3 million.

According to David Bennett, chairman of the international jewelry department at Sotheby’s, the high interest in the Pink Panther is due to the fact that it’s labeled one of the rarest and close to perfect diamonds in the world.

“I cannot exaggerate just how rare this stone is. This sale is one of the most exciting of my 35-year career,” Bennet says, as cited by the aforementioned e-zine.

“It is one of the most desirable diamonds ever to come to auction and its beauty has haunted me since the very first time I set eyes on it some years ago,” Bennet adds.

The diamond is classified as a “fancy intense pink,” a very rare color, as per the Geological Institute of America. It’s set between two other diamonds on a silver ring support.

“There is something so exuberant, joyful and intensely feminine about a pink diamond that makes them absolutely irresistible,” Bennet adds of the diamond, also described as “potentially flawless.”