'Pink Star' Diamond Set To Sparkle At Auction

A plum-sized diamond known as the "Pink Star" is expected to fetch a record $60m (£37.6m) at auction on Wednesday.

The gem goes under the hammer at Sotheby's in Geneva a day after rival Christie's sold an almond-shaped diamond dubbed "The Orange" for £35.5m (£22.2m) - also a record in its category.

The flawless 59.60-carat pink diamond is the largest in its class ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), with the second biggest less than half its size.

Sotheby's David Bennett said: "It's really extraordinarily rare. Very, very few of these stones have ever appeared at auction."

The sparkling oval-cut rock, which has received the highest possible GIA colour and clarity rating, will be part of the auction house's Magnificent Jewels sale at a luxury hotel on Wednesday evening.

This white diamond fetched $30.6m in Hong Kong last month

Set on a ring, it measures 2.69 by 2.06 centimetres and weighs 11.92 grammes.

It would earn Sotheby's around $5m per gramme if it fetches its asking price of $60m which Mr Bennett said was "very reasonable."

"The international demand for exceptional diamonds keeps on growing," he said.

Three years ago, Sotheby's set a record when it sold the "Graff Pink" diamond for $46.2m (£28.9m).

Half the size of the "Pink Star", it came from a private collection and had not been on the market for 60 years.

The Pink Star is the biggest diamond in its category

Analysts note that investors have often turned to diamonds and other jewels in uncertain economic times as they are seen primarily as investments.

The "Pink Star" was 132.5 carats in the rough when it was mined by De Beers in Africa in 1999, according to Sotheby's, which has not said where it came from.

It was then cut and polished over a period of two years by Steinmetz Diamonds, and was first unveiled to the public in 2003 under the title of the "Steinmetz Pink".

The near-translucent rock was renamed after it was first sold four years later for an undisclosed sum to an unidentified buyer.

Sotheby's declined to name the seller in Wednesday's auction, nor would it say whether the gemstone had been bought and sold again since 2007.

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