GENEVA — An enormous diamond known as “The Pink Star” sold for more than $83 million at auction Wednesday night, far surpassing its expected price.
Sotheby’s says the sale the vivid and flawless 59.60-carat pink diamond is the highest price ever paid for a gemstone at auction.
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Prior to the sale to the successful bidder, representing an anonymous buyer, the diamond was estimated to fetch more than $60 million. The bidding opened above $52 million, and it closed with the playing of the “Pink Panther” movie’s theme music.
The exact sale price of “The Pink Star” was $83.425 million. It had been introduced as “one of the most remarkable gems ever to appear at auction.”
The diamond is graded as a Type IIa, a rarity for a pink diamond, and it took Steinmetz Diamonds two years to cut it to form from a 132.5-carat rough diamond.
The sale came a day after the largest fancy vivid orange diamond sold at a Christie’s auction for $35.5 million.
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