Dazzling pink diamond could fetch more than $21 million at auction

Record ID: 1687035

  • Title: Dazzling pink diamond could fetch more than $21 million at auction
  • Date: 31st August 2022
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 31, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MODEL WEARING THE WILLIAMSON PINK STAR DIAMOND SET IN A RING ON HER FINGER MODEL POSING WITH DIAMOND NEXT TO SIGNAGE FOR DIAMOND SOTHEBY'S HEAD OF JEWELLERY, KRISTIAN SPOFFORTH OPENING THE GLASS CABINET AND RETRIEVING THE RING FROM IT SPOFFORTH'S HAND TAKING DIAMOND / SPOFFORTH LOOKING AT IT SPOFFORTH LOOKING AT DIAMOND DIAMOND IN SPOFFORTH'S HAND (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOTHEBY'S HEAD OF JEWELLERY, KRISTIAN SPOFFORTH, SAYING: "They are exceptionally rare in nature. If you look at diamonds, we all know as diamonds as being beautiful, wonderful, natural beauties, of diamonds, only five per cent of them are coloured diamonds. Of coloured diamonds, only three per cent of those are pink. You then add in the extra factors like it being over 10 carats, internally flawless and Type IIA, and you get right down to the pinnacle, something that is truly, truly, phenomenally rare in nature. The only other example that has come to auction we know of is the CTF Pink Star which was sold by Sotheby's in 2017 for a world record price for any gemstone, jewel or diamond at auction." MODEL WEARING DIAMOND (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOTHEBY'S HEAD OF JEWELLERY, KRISTIAN SPOFFORTH, SAYING: "It's one of those fascinating questions; we don't actually know. We do know it's called plastic deformation and that's the structure, the atomic structure of diamond being deformed in some sort of way, but what actually causes pink is still unknown - one of those fascinating mysteries of nature." VARIOUS OF MODEL POSING WITH DIAMOND HELD UP TO HER FACE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOTHEBY'S HEAD OF JEWELLERY, KRISTIAN SPOFFORTH, SAYING: "It's been named the William(son) Pink Star which is a wonderful tribute to, to other really famous diamonds that are very similar. So, the Williamson Pink is worn by the Queen in a beautiful Cartier brooch that she has. It was given to her in 1947 and came from the Williamson mine in Tanzania. This is also from the Williamson mine in Tanzania, so there is a wonderful link on that side. The other link is to the CTF Pink Star which we sold, which is the only is the only other internally flawless, vivid pink, over 10 carats that has been sold at auction, so it's a wonderful tie-in there, and hence, the name Williamson Pink Star giving tribute to both of those diamonds." MODEL POSING WITH DIAMOND (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOTHEBY'S HEAD OF JEWELLERY, KRISTIAN SPOFFORTH, SAYING: "I don't think so. There is always going to be a demand for rarity. We see over the lockdown crisis and the COVID crisis that there is always demand for the rare and the beautiful in the world, and this is something exceptionally rare, I think we will have plenty of bidders on the day." MODEL HOLDING DIAMOND UP AGAINST FACE THE WILLIAMSON PINK STAR DIAMOND VARIOUS OF THE WILLIAMSON PINK STAR DIAMOND ON DISPLAY THE DIAMOND ON DISPLAY IN ITS GLASS CABINET VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF SOTHEBY'S LONDON
  • Embargoed: 14th September 2022 13:39
  • Keywords: Sotheby's The Williamson Pink Star diamond auction flawless fancy vivid pink diamond
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe
  • Reuters ID: LVA001180931082022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A dazzling pink diamond, described as one of the world's most purest and most saturated, could fetch more than $21 million when it goes under the hammer in Hong Kong in October, auction house Sotheby's said on Wednesday (August 31).
    At 11.15 carats, the cushion-shaped gem is called "Williamson Pink Star", in tribute to two other pink diamonds.
    One is the "CTF Pink Star" which sold for a record $71.2 million at auction in 2017. The other is "Williamson" stone – a 23.60-carat diamond given to Britain's Queen Elizabeth as a wedding gift by Canadian geologist John Thorburn Williamson. Worn by the monarch in a Cartier brooch, it was discovered in his mine in Mwadui, Tanzania.
    The "Williamson Pink Star" also originates from that mine.
    "(Pink diamonds) are exceptionally rare in nature...," Kristian Spofforth, Sotheby’s head of jewellery, told Reuters at a press preview.
    "You then add in the extra factors like it being over 10 carats, internally flawless, and Type IIA, and you get right down to the pinnacle," he added referring to a subgroup of the most chemically pure diamonds.
    Top-quality coloured stones are prized by the super-wealthy and Spofforth said he expected many bids for the gem when it is offered for sale in a standalone auction on Oct 5.
    "There is always going to be a demand for rarity," he said.
    "We see over the lockdown crisis and the COVID crisis that there is always demand for the rare and the beautiful in the world, and this is something exceptionally rare that I think we will have plenty of bidders on the day."
    Ahead of the auction, the "Williamson Pink Star" will go on tour to Dubai, Singapore, and Taipei before arriving in Hong Kong.
    (Production: Gerry Mey, Lisa Giles-Keddie, Marie-Louise Gumuchian)
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