West News Wire: In the lower end of the anticipated range, a pear-shaped 18-carat pink diamond that was described as a rarity sold at a Geneva auction for 28.4 million Swiss francs ($28.8 million), fees included.
The centerpiece of Christie’s most recent Geneva jewelry auction was the “Fortune Pink” exquisite brilliant pink stone, which is rumored to be the largest of its sort and shape to ever hit the market. It was anticipated to bring in $25 million to $35 million.
The diamond was purchased, according to the auction house, by an anonymous Asian buyer.
The stone with a vivid, saturated pink color, according to Max Fawcett, head of Christie’s jewelry department in Geneva, was mined in Brazil more than 15 years ago. He wouldn’t say who owned it, but he did call the gem “a true miracle of nature.”
Christie’s says the first pink diamonds ever recorded were found in India’s Golconda mines in the 16th century, before others turned up over the centuries in places like Africa, Australia, Brazil and Russia.
The pink stone’s auction followed a showroom tour in New York, Shanghai, Singapore and Taiwan before its arrival in Geneva.
Managing director Tobias Kormind of 77 Diamonds, an online diamond jeweler, called the sale price disappointing.
“The extraordinary Fortune Pink diamond sold in Geneva, with its auspicious 18.18 carat weight, which signifies prosperity in Asia, sadly didn’t bring the luck or uplift in fortunes many had hoped for,” he said.
He suggested the result could be reflection of a “shaky global economy” and other financial factors, which have been “giving rise to worries creeping in, even among the top echelon of wealthy buyers.”
The auction comes six months after Christie’s sold “The Rock” a 228-carat egg-sized white diamond billed as the largest of its kind to go up for auction for more than $21.75 million, including fees. That was also at the low end of the expected range.
