Lot 312. A superb 5.29 carats cut-cornered rectangular-cut fancy intense purplish pink Type IIa diamond and diamond ring. Estimate $3,500,000 – $5,000,000. Price realised USD 5,765,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Set with a cut-cornered rectangular-cut fancy intense purplish pink diamond, weighing approximately 5.29 carats, flanked on either side by a half moon-cut diamond, mounted in platinum.

With report 5171023436 dated 17 February 2015 from the Gemological Institute of America stating that the diamond is fancy intense purplish pink, natural color, VS2 clarity

Accompanied by a supplemental letter from the Gemological Institute of America stating that the diamond has been determined to be a Type IIa diamond. Type IIa diamonds are the most chemically pure type of diamond and often have exceptional optical transparency. Type IIa diamonds were first identified as originating from India (particularly from the Golconda region) but have since been recovered in all major diamond-producing regions of the world. Among famous gem diamonds, the 530.20 carat Cullinan I and the 105.60 carat Koh-i-noor, are examples of Type IIa

Notes: The 5.29 carat Fancy Intense Purplish Pink diamond possesses a depth of color, tone, and saturation which is highly desirable in gems over fve carats. Most pink diamonds belong to the Type IIa category of diamonds where the color originates from a slippage in the growth structure of the stone, making it even more diffcult to fnd pink diamonds of high clarity. What makes this stone even rarer is the purple modifer. Out of all fancy colored pink diamonds only 8% are fancy intense (Characterization And Grading Of Natural-Color Pink Diamonds, Gems & Gemology, Summer 2002) and even less have a purple modifer. Most recently, Christie’s New York sold a Fancy Intense Pink diamond of 6.10 carats for over $5,765,000 on April 16, 2014.

Christie's. MAGNIFICENT JEWELS, 14 April 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza