A 10.09 carat Fancy Vivid purple-pink diamond failed to sell at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in New York last week.
The cushion cut diamond was expected to sell for US$12 million to $15 million.
Following the auction, Christie’s Americas head of jewellery Rahul Kadakia said that although the auction house was disappointed that the purple-pink diamond did not find a buyer, top-quality white, blue, pink and yellow diamonds fared very well, with a strong price of US$3.67 million, or $1.1 million per carat, achieved for a Fancy Vivid blue diamond.
“In all, five jewels exceeded the US$1 million mark, with heavy competition among both trade buyers and private collectors for colourless diamonds, large gemstones, and signed jewels.”
Prior to the auction, Kadakia said that in recent years prices for top-quality coloured diamonds have increased rapidly, driven by both collector demand and increasingly limited supply.
“Collector demand for large coloured diamonds has never been stronger, especially where pink diamonds of this size and quality are concerned,” he said.
“Fewer than 10 percent of all pink diamonds mined weigh more than 0.20 carats, and even fewer exhibit the exceptional colour saturation and brilliance of this exceptional gem.
“In all my years at Christie’s, I have never seen such vivid color in a stone of this size.”