Sotheby’s Hopes Purple-Pink Diamond Will Set New Record

(August 18, '14, 3:16 Albert Robinson) (IDEX Online) – Auctioneer Sotheby’s will put an 8.41-carat pear-shaped internally flawless fancy vivid purple-pink diamond on the block in Hong Kong on October 7, with a pre-sale estimate of $12.8 million to $15.4 million.

If the diamond is sold at the top of the estimate range, it will become one of the top three pink stones ever sold at auction on a per-carat basis.

British jeweler Laurence Graff paid $46.2 million in 2010, or $1.9 million per carat for the 24.8-carat Graff Pink.

Hong Kong has become a favored venue for the sale of high-value diamond and jewelry in recent years due to increasing wealth in the region. Sotheby’s said buyers from Greater China spent more last year than those in the traditional markets of Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Critically, the Chinese government's moves against the giving of luxury items, particularly diamond-set watches which were suspected of frequently being given as bribes, have not affected the market for large and valuable stones, say analysts.

Sotheby’s set a world record for a white diamond sold at auction in Hong Kong last year, with a 118.28-carat stone being bought for $30.6 million.