16.08 carat cushion-shaped fancy vivid pink diamond. Estimate: US$23-28 million. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Geneva/New York/London/Hong Kong - Christie’s International, the global auction leader, announces the largest cushion-shaped Fancy Vivid Pink diamond to be offered for sale at auction, continuing the firm’s long tradition of presenting extraordinary jewels to the global market. The 16.08 carat stone is estimated at US$23-28 million and will be featured in Christie’s flagship Magnificent Jewels auction on November 10, 2015 in Geneva.

The diamond is set as a ring, with a double row of pavé-set white diamonds which surround and highlight the main stone, with a third row of small pink diamonds underneath. The band is comprised of small circular-cut white diamonds set in platinum. 

October marks the start of an international tour of the diamond to Christie’s locations around the world, starting with Hong Kong, and continuing to New York and London prior to the exhibition and sale in Geneva. 

In the realm of natural colored diamonds, those of a distinct pink hue are the most sought-after among gem connoisseurs. While most pink diamonds exhibit a color modifier like purple, orange, brown or grey, the 16.08 carat diamond to be offered at Christie’s shows absolutely no trace of a secondary color, making it exceedingly rare and attractive. In addition the 16.08 carat Fancy Vivid Pink diamond classifies as a Type IIa diamond, which contains little if any nitrogen and accounts for less than 2 percent of all gem diamonds. The stone’s even color distribution, combined with a balanced saturation and tone and straight pink hue, qualify the 16.08 carat pink for the coveted ‘Fancy Vivid’ color grading from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). That only one in one hundred thousand diamonds possesses a color deep enough to qualify as ‘Fancy’ underscores its absolute rarity. 

In the Fancy Vivid pink range, diamonds of even five or six carats are rarely encountered in the sale room and those over ten carats are virtually unheard of. In fact, fewer than 10 percent of pink diamonds weigh more than one-fifth of a carat. In almost 250 years of auction history, only three pure vivid pink diamonds of over ten carats have appeared for sale. 

“As large and rare colored diamonds of this caliber become increasingly hard to locate, this 16.08 carat Fancy Vivid pink diamond comes to market at a time when great gems are mirroring prices achieved for masterpieces in the world of fine art. Collectors are looking to jewels as savvy investments that are both beautiful and can appreciate considerably in value over a relatively short period of time,” noted Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s International Head of Jewellery.

An historic level was reached in the international diamond market in December 2009 when Christie’s Hong Kong sold The Vivid Pink, a cushion-shaped fancy vivid pink diamond of 5.00 carats for U$2,155,332 per carat, setting a new per-carat record price for any pink diamond. Since that time, per-carat prices for top-quality pink diamonds have continued on a steady upward climb. Among the major pink diamonds that have set new auction benchmarks in price over the last five years, Christie’s has sold The ‘Princie ‘Diamond, a cushion-shaped fancy intense pink diamond of 34.65 carats for $39.3 million; The ‘Perfect Pink’, a rectangular-cut fancy intense pink diamond of 14.23 carats for $23.2 million; and The ‘Martian Pink’, a brilliant-cut fancy intense pink diamond ring of 12.04 carats by Harry Winston for $17.4 million. Earlier this year, a rectangular-cut fancy intense pink diamond ring of 9.07 carats sold for $12.6 million at Christie’s Hong Kong. 

Some of the world’s most famous and historic gems are pink diamonds, including the ‘Darya-i-Nur’ of approximately 182 carats, part of the Iranian Crown Jewels; the ‘Hortensia’ of 20.53 carats, formerly part of the Crown Jewels of France and today to be admired at the Louvre; and the ‘Williamson’ of 23.60 carats, belonging to Her Majesty the Queen of England.