HONG KONG (AP) – A stunning 59.6 carat diamond known as the “Pink Star” sold for $71.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction Tuesday in Hong Kong, setting a new world record for any diamond or jewel, according to the auction house.
The oval mixed-cut diamond smashed the $60 million pre-sale estimate set by Sotheby’s when it went on the block.
The sale comes three years after the gem was sold at an even higher price at another Sotheby’s auction in Geneva. That deal later fell apart after the buyer defaulted.
The gem is the largest flawless fancy vivid pink diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America.
It was sold for a hammer price of $63.0 million, not including the buyer’s premium. Sotheby’s says the buyer is Hong Kong jewelry company Chow Tai Fook , which beat out two other telephone bidders.