10.09 Carats Fancy Vivid Purple-Pink Cushion-Cut Diamond Ring
Overall, the night turned out pretty well for Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels Sale Tuesday (April 12) which took in a total of $31.8 million. However, its biggest item up for auction, a much-hyped 10.09 ct. Fancy Vivid purplish-pink diamond, that was expected to sell for $12 million to $15 million, failed to sell.
We were disappointed that the 10-carat purple-pink diamond did not find a buyer, but top-quality white, blue, pink and yellow diamonds fared very well, said Christie’s head of jewellery in New York, Radul Kadakia. He added that a Fancy Vivid blue diamond sold for $3.67 million, or more than $1 million per carat which exceeded it high estimate. The highlight of the auction was a cut-cornered rectangular cut diamond, which went for $4.4 million. A rectangular-cut Fancy Intense Pink 6.61 carat diamond fetched $3.5 million.
However, the 10.09-carat Fancy Vivid cushion-cut diamond was expected to be the sale’s highlight, with prices for large pink diamonds, the most expensive coloured diamonds on the market, having skyrocketed in recent years. Fewer than 10 percent of all pink diamonds mined weigh more than .20 carats. It failed to sell when two clients bid, but failed to reach the reserve, an undisclosed minimum amount at which the owner is willing to sell. [Reuters]
