subject: Autumn Sees Brisk Business in Pink Fancy Diamonds [print this page] Autumn Sees Brisk Business in Pink Fancy Diamonds
Pink fancy diamonds are prominent in news headlines this season, with the highly coveted blush or rose-colored fancy diamonds selling for record prices.
In Canada, a 10.11-carat pink fancy diamond set a national record when it was auctioned for $2.3 million quite a bit higher than the previous record price paid for a gem at auction in Canada, $250,000.
The stone, which was sold to a buyer who prefers to remain anonymous, carried a clarity grade of VS2 (very slightly included), which while enough to earn an accolade of "really extraordinary stuff" from Canadian Gemological Association President Duncan Parker was a lower grade for a significantly smaller pink fancy diamond auctioned last December. That pink fancy diamond was half the size (5 carats) of the one sold in Toronto, but because of its grade of Internally Flawless sold for $10.8 million, a world record per carat price.
Another pink fancy diamond, a 6.43-carat stone set in a ring designed by Van Cleef & Arpels, was sold at auction in Hong Kong for $7.7 million. The fancy diamond, surrounded by and set off by smaller white diamonds, has a color grade of "Fancy Vivid Pink."
One of the reasons pink fancy diamonds are so prevalent is that October is designated Breast Cancer Awareness Month and diamonds are being donated to raise money for Pink Ribbon campaigns. Even Barbie is on board a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll has been outfitted with a genuine diamond choker consisting of a one-carat pink fancy diamond and two carats of baguette-cut white diamonds in a geometric design is set to be sold in New York on October 20.
Christie's, which is handing the sale, said that if the Barbie doll fetches the estimated price of $300,000 to $500,000, it will be the most expensive Barbie ever sold. The fancy diamond necklace is designed and crafted by jeweler Stefano Canturi, who also designed the rest of the doll's look hair, dress, and shoes.
In November, the Geneva branch of Sotheby's auction house is scheduled to auction off a fancy diamond certified as "Fancy Intense Pink" a true rose color. The pink emerald-cut fancy diamond weighs 24.78 carats and was originally purchased from Harry Winston. Estimates for the fancy diamond's value range from $27 million to $38 million.
Sotheby's official David Bennet called the pink Harry Winston fancy diamond one of "the most desirable diamonds" he has ever seen and noted the stone's "exceptional color and purity."
