Pink Diamonds Earn Lots of Green at Christie’s

Fancy colored diamonds continue their hot streak at auction, as two 5 ct.-plus pinks blew away their estimates to garner more than $12 million at the Christie’s June 10 Important Jewels auction in New York.
The sale’s headline stone, a 5.5 ct. fancy-vivid pink oval, fetched $9.6 million, or $1.7 million a carat—$2 million more than its $6.5 million–to–$7.5 million estimate. The buyer was described as “New York trade.” 

The 5.5 ct. fancy-vivid pink oval
In addition, another pink diamond—a 5.91 ct. fancy light VS1 rectangular cut—sold for $1.8 million, more than double its $575,000-to-$675,000 estimate.

 
The 5.91 ct. fancy light VS1 rectangular cut
In a statement, international head of Christie’s jewelry Rahul Kadakia said the fancy-vivid stone saw “enthusiastic bidding,” and noted that this year, three colored diamonds—this pink, the Winston Blue, and the Ocean Dream, which both sold last month—have brought in $42 million total.
Other notable sales include a Taffin diamond ring featuring a 20.08 ct., D VVS1 (potentially internally flawless) rectangle cut, which went for $3.1 million, or $153,240 per carat.

The Taffin diamond ring.
The auction sold 85 percent by value and 83 percent by lot and made $27.5 million total.

Source: JCK