A rare pink diamond was sold in Hong Kong for nearly $58 million, setting a record for the price per carat paid at auction for any diamond or gemstone, according to Sotheby’s. The 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star on Friday fetched HK$453.2 million ($57.7 million), the second-highest price paid at auction for any jewel, Sotheby’s added.
The winning bid, by an undisclosed buyer from Boca Raton, Florida, was more than twice the estimated $21 million sale price. The stone was the second-largest pink diamond to be sold at auction. Pink diamonds are the rarest of the precious gems and the most in-demand on the global market.The world record for a pink diamond was set in 2017 when a stone known as the CTF Pink Star was sold in Hong Kong for $71.2 million.
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 given as a wedding present to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.