Hong Kong – On 29 November, Christie’s will offer The Perfect Pink, a rare 14.23 carat Fancy Intense Pink diamond, as the lead highlight in Jewels: The Hong Kong Sale. In over 244 years of auction history, only 18 diamonds over 10 carats showing a distinct pure pink colour have appeared for sale and not one was graded a Fancy Intense Pink at the time, placing this extraordinary diamond in a class completely of its own. The Perfect Pink is a phenomenon in the world of gems and is offered with an estimate of HK$110-150 million (US$14-19 million).
THE PERFECT PINK
Gem connoisseurs have long considered pink diamonds to be among the most beautiful of gemstones since they were first discovered in the ancient mines of India. Larger specimens rarely come up for auction and their scarcity makes the sale of The Perfect Pink, a 14.23 carat fancy intense pink diamond, an extraordinary event. Indeed, large polished pink diamonds with this intensity of colour are virtually unheard of– in fact, fewer than 10% of pink diamonds weigh more than 0.20 carats.
Beyond its impressive size, The Perfect Pink is a paragon of perfection in terms of its color, clarity, and cut. While most pink diamonds exhibit a colour modifier like purple, orange or grey, this specimen shows absolutely no trace of a secondary colour, making it exceedingly rare, both commercially and naturally. Only this requisite richness and depth of its inherent pure pink body colour combined with a wonderful balance of tone and saturation can qualify for that coveted Fancy Intense colour grading from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). While the majority of pinks are graded SI (Slightly Included) on the GIA clarity rating scale, this 14.23-carat pink diamond shows no inclusions. Its VVS2 (Very Very Slightly Included 2) grading is due to an internal graining, typical of Type IIa pink diamonds such as this. Further emphasizing its rarity is the elegant and classic rectangular cut of the diamond, a cut generally reserved for white diamonds. Rather than a modified cut seen in the vast majority of color diamonds – used to help “release” color - the impeccable emerald cut signals that no additional facets were required to intensify its perfect tone. Taken together, The Perfect Pink is unmatched and stands as a diamond of the highest caliber fit for the world’s most discerning collectors.
MARKET UPDATE: PINK DIAMONDS
In the diamond market, both past and present, Fancy Intense Pink diamonds are commercially and notably very rare. Only 18 diamonds over 10 carats showing a distinct pure pink colour have ever appeared for sale at auction. Of these, all exhibited a lighter shade and saturation of pink, without coming close to an Intense Pink such as seen in The Perfect Pink.
Christie's has been privileged to have handled and sold some of the world’s greatest pink diamonds, including The Agra, a Fancy light pink cushion-shaped diamond of 32.24cts (VS1) sold at Christie’s London in June 1990 for US$6,959,780, and The Rose of Dubai, a Fancy pink pear-shaped diamond ring of 25.02cts (IF, Type IIa) sold at Christie’s New York in October 2005 for US$6,008,000.
A historic mark was made on the international auction market on December 1st, 2009 when Christie’s Hong Kong sold the The Vivid Pink, a cushion-cut Fancy Vivid pink potentially flawless diamond of 5.00-carats, for US$10,776,660 - an astounding US$2,155,332 per carat. With this sale, the colour pink set a world auction record price per carat for any diamond or gemstone, simultaneously establishing also a world auction record price for any pink diamond. This achievement exceeds a record previously held by a 7.03-carat cushion-cut Fancy Vivid Blue diamond which sold for US$9,488,754 or US$1,349,752 per carat. And so, pink officially became recognised as the most valuable diamond colour per carat in the auction world.
In advance of the 29 November sale in Hong Kong, The Perfect Pink will be on view in the following cities around the world:
New York: 17-19 October Christie’s Rockefeller Center Galleries
Geneva: 14-16 November Four Seasons, Hotel des Bergues
Taipei: 20-21 November Fubon Life Assurance Building
Hong Kong 25-29 November Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
About Christie’s
Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business. Renowned and trusted for its expert live and online auctions, as well as its bespoke private sales, Christie’s offers a full portfolio of global services to its clients, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. It also is the only international auction house authorized to hold sales in mainland China (Shanghai).
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