The world’s largest Fancy Intense Pink diamond could bring up to $30 million next month, as part of an exclusive Sotheby’s jewelry auction in Geneva.
The diamond, known as ‘The Raj Pink’, is named after the Sanskrit word for ‘king’, and will cross the block on November 15 with an estimate of $20 – $30 million.
"The discovery of any pink diamond is exceptional, but the Raj Pink’s remarkable size and intensity of colour places it in the rarefied company of the most important pink diamonds known," said David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewellery Division.
Following its discovery in 2015, experts spent an entire year examining the raw gemstone before entrusting it to the care of a master cutter.
It was then crafted into a stunning, cushion-modified brilliant cut diamond weighing 37.30 carats, before being certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) as an "astonishing stone" with "a very bright and ravishing fancy intense pink color".
According to the GIA report:
"Only on the rarest occasions do diamonds with vibrant, shocking color like the Raj Pink’s emerge… only the most privileged and knowledgeable in the industry know of their existence.
"With an unmodified Fancy Intense Pink hue, substantial size and desirable clarity, the Raj Pink is certainly one of those gems that only few may have the honor of experiencing."
The current record price for a Fancy Intense Pink diamond was set back in 2010, when the 24.78 carat Graff Pink sold at Sotheby’s in Geneva for $46,158,674.
