Rare pink diamond sold for record $57.7 million at Hong Kong auction

 Rare pink diamond sold for record $57.7 million at Hong Kong auction

The 11.15-carat Williamson Pink star fetched HK$453.2 million ($57.7 million) on Friday, the second-highest price paid at auction for any jewel, Sotheby's said.

Hong Kong:

According to Sotheby's, a rare pink diamond has sold for about $58 million in Hong Kong, setting a record for the price per carat paid at auction for any diamond or gemstone.

The 11.15-carat Williamson Pink star fetched HK$453.2 million ($57.7 million) on Friday, the second-highest price paid at auction for any jewel, Sotheby's said.

The winning bid by an unidentified buyer from Boca Raton, Florida, was more than double the estimated $21 million sale price.

This stone was the second largest pink diamond ever sold at auction. Pink diamonds are the rarest of the precious gems and the most sought after diamonds in the global market.

The world record for pink diamonds was set in 2017, when a stone known as the CTF Pink Star was sold in Hong Kong for $71.2 million.

Friday's sale "not only testifies to resilient demand for high-quality diamonds in Asia, but also raises awareness of the acute shortage of pink diamonds", said Wenho Yu, Sotheby's president of jewelery and watches in Asia.

The Williamson Pink Star was named after two other pink diamonds: the record-setting CTF Pink Star and the Williamson Stone, a 23.6-carat diamond that was given as a wedding gift to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.

Tobias Cormind, managing director of UK jewelry retailer 77 Diamonds, said the "astonishing" sales proved that high-quality diamonds can still fetch prime value in a volatile economy.

"Hard assets like world-class diamonds have a history of performing well in times of volatility," he said.