Pink Star diamond sells for record $83M at auction

The "Pink Star", a flawless pink diamond the size of a plum, sold for $83 million US in Geneva on Wednesday, a world record price for a gemstone at auction, Sotheby's said.

"The diamond was bought by Isaac Wolf and the diamond has been renamed The Pink Dream," said Matthew Weigman, Sotheby's worldwide director of sales communications.

Wolf, a New York-based diamond cutter, was represented by a bidder in the room and Sotheby's said the final sale price included the "buyer's premium," or commission fees.

In all, four people, including two Asian clients, bid on the oval-shaped diamond, which was mounted on a ring and weighed 59.60 carats, he said.

As Sotheby's auctioneer David Bennett brought down the hammer in the Geneva salesroom, applause erupted.

"You'll forgive me," he said, as the theme song from the "Pink Panther" was played.

The Pink Star was the star lot at Sotheby's jewels sale in Geneva, held in a heavily guarded hotel showroom.

'Historic sale'

"This was a really historic sale. We broke a number of records," Bennett told reporters.

"The pink diamond, I have no hesitation in saying, is a truly amazing royal stone, fit for any royal collection, fit for any museum collection.

"There is no stone of that size and colour known, no other stone."

Noting that the diamond's pre-sale estimate was $61 million, Bennett said: "It surpassed our estimate. It's a large amount of money in itself, but I don't think this stone has a price."

The previous record was held by the "Graff Pink", a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink diamond bought in 2010 by Laurence Graff, a London-based jeweller known as "The King of Diamonds", for $45.75 million at the time.

"Frankly when I sold the Graff three years ago, I thought it would be a record for a very long time. Tonight's price is really quite extraordinary three years later," Bennett said.

"It means the three top prices paid for gemstones are all pink diamonds."

The Pink Star was cut and polished from a 132.5 carat rough diamond mined by De Beers somewhere in Africa in 1999, according to Sotheby's, which said it had no information on the precise geographic origin.

It was first sold in 2007 and the seller wished to remain anonymous, said a Sotheby's spokeswoman.

At rival Christie's on Tuesday night, an orange diamond of 14.82 carats sold for $36 million US.