It’s said that diamonds are forever, and it appears at least one is “Eternal.”
Today, Sotheby’s announced the auction of a 10.57-carat internally flawless, fancy vivid purplish pink diamond known as “The Eternal Pink” and described as, “arguably the most significant pink diamond to ever appear at auction.”
The diamond will headline Sotheby’s June 8 jewelry auction in New York and is projected to sell for at least $35 million, or $3.3 million per carat, the highest price-per-carat estimate placed on a diamond or gemstone offered at auction, the auction house said.
It said the diamond will challenge the price-per-carat record for a diamond or gemstone currently held by the 11.15-carat “Williamson Pink Star” (sold for $57.7 million/$5.2 million per carat), noting that $35 million/$3.3 million per carat is the diamond’s low estimate.
“This color is the most beautiful and concentrated shade of pink in diamonds I have ever seen or has ever come to market,” said Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby’s Jewelry Americas. “The Eternal Pink’s immense presence and great rarity make it comparable to ultimate masterpieces of art—far rarer than a Magritte or a Warhol.”
Debswana, the joint venture between De Beers Group and the government of Botswana, mined the 23.78-carat rough diamond that became The Eternal Pink at its Damtshaa mine in 2019. (Damtshaa currently is on care and maintenance, meaning it is not producing.)
Diacore, which has cut some of the world’s most valuable diamonds, including the rough that became the Williamson Pink Star, took six months to transform the nearly 24-carat pink rough into a cushion-shaped, internally flawless diamond.
The Eternal Pink’s appearance at auction this June follows an interesting end of 2022 for natural colored diamonds at auction.
While the Williamson Pink Star exceeded expectations and set a new price-per-carat record when Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold it in October 2022, the final sale price for the “Fortune Pink,” an 18.18-carat fancy vivid pink, was at the low end of its estimated range the following month at Christie’s Geneva.
In December, Christie’s had to pull another fancy vivid pink diamond from auction, this one weighing 13.15 carats. News reports later emerged that the auction house had withdrawn the diamond from its jewelry auction because it allegedly was stolen.
In addition, three blue diamonds from an eight-stone collection titled “The De Beers Exceptional Blue Collection” didn’t sell when Sotheby’s put them up for auction.
A 5.53-carat fancy vivid blue failed to find a buyer at Sotheby’s Geneva in November, and nobody bought the 3.24-carat fancy vivid blue or the 2.08-carat fancy intense blue offered at Sotheby’s New York the following month.
Sotheby’s is slated to publicly unveil The Eternal Pink Saturday in Hong Kong, coinciding with the auction house’s celebrations around its 50th anniversary in Asia.
Following its debut, the stone will make stops in Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai, Taiwan and Geneva (exact dates to come).
The Eternal Pink eventually will come to New York, where it will anchor Sotheby’s “Magnificent Jewels” auction on June 8.
Our thanks to Michelle Graff and National Jeweler for this informative update
