A plum-sized flawless diamond known as the Pink Star has been sold for a staggering USD 83 million at an auction here, a record price for a gemstone.
Records came tumbling down as the 59.6-carat diamond described by Sotheby's auction house as "Internally Flawless Fancy Vivid Pink Diamond" was bought by New York-based famous diamond cutter Isaac Wolf for USD 83,187,381.
The diamond now holds the world auction record for a diamond, the world auction record for a pink diamond, the world auction record for any coloured diamond and the world auction record for any jewel, Sotheby's said in a statement.
The gemstone, which has been renamed by Wolf as 'The Pink Dream', was sold yesterday for the whopping price which eclipsed the previous record of USD 46.2 million established by Sotheby's Geneva for the magnificent 'Graff Pink' in 2010.
The Pink diamond measures 1.06 inches by 0.81 inches and is set on a ring.
This is not just any old big expensive diamond, but one of the rarest stones in the world. Most pink diamonds are less than five carats, the Pink Star is almost 60.
Sotheby's played the theme tune from the "Pink Panther" movie in a tongue-in-cheek gesture after the winning bid was confirmed.
According to the auctioneer, the Pink Star was mined by De Beers in Africa in 1999, but it did not say which country.
"It's really extraordinarily rare," Sotheby's auctioneer David Bennett said.
"Very, very few of these stones have ever appeared at auction," he said.
It took two years to cut and polish the diamond, which was 132.5 carat in its rough state.
Sotheby's has sold almost USD 200 million worth of jewellery in its current auction, a record for a single auction according to the company.
