The 37.30-carat, cushion-modified VS1 brilliant-cut stone will be the headline act at the Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction on 15 November in Geneva.
It was named The Raj Pink by its current anonymous owner after the Sanskrit word for ‘king’, and is predicted to sell for between CHF19 million (AU$25.2 m) and CHF29 million (AU$38 m).
The diamond was graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), which described it as an “astonishing stone” with a “very bright and ravishing fancy intense pink colour”.
Worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s international jewellery division David Bennett echoed these sentiments.
“The discovery of any pink diamond is exceptional, but The Raj Pink’s remarkable size and intensity of colour places it in the rarefied company of the most important pink diamonds known,” Bennett stated.
According to Sotheby’s, The Raj Pink came from a rough diamond discovered in 2015. It was studied for more than a year before being cut.
Sotheby’s set the current record for the highest price paid for a fancy intense pink diamond after selling the 24.78-carat Graff Pink stone for US$46.2 million (AU$58.9 m) in November 2010.
The auction house is also believed to hold the world record for the highest price paid for a diamond or piece of jewellery at auction after the 59.60-carat Pink Star fetched US$71.2 million (AU$90.8 m) earlier this year.
In other pink diamond news, a fancy vivid pink diamond that has been described as the most expensive jewellery item ever offered at a Christie’s Hong Kong auction will also go under the hammer this month.
The Pink Promise, part of Christie’s upcoming Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction, is a 14.93-carat fancy vivid pink VVS1 diamond ring that is estimated to sell for between US$28 million (AU$36.4 m) and US$42 million (AU$54.6 m).
An 8.80-carat fancy intense pink VVS1 diamond ring will be included in the auction as well; it is expected to fetch between US$8 million (AU$10.4 m) and US$12 million (AU$15.6 m).
According to Christie’s, the two pink diamonds are on offer in response to the “continued appetite of collectors around the world for pieces of mesmerising beauty and unsurpassed quality”.
The Magnificent Jewels auction will take place on 28 November.
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