The Pink Legacy Diamond Sold for World Record Price US$50m

A 18.96-carat Fancy Vivid Pink Diamond, The Pink Legacy, fetched CHF 50.3m (US$50m) at Christie’s in Geneva. It achieved a per-carat price of around US$2.6m, a world record for a pink diamond. The diamond was bought by US renowned jeweller Harry Winston and renamed 'The Winston Pink Legacy'.

The Pink Legacy is an extremely rare one for its large size and the high level of colour intensity. ‘You may see this colour in a pink diamond of less than one carat. But this is almost 19 carats and it’s as pink as can be. It’s unbelievable,’ said Rahul Kadakia, International Head of Jewellery, Christie's.

The diamond falls under the rare Type IIa category in which the diamond has a particularly rare, almost homogeneous colour. Type IIa stones are some of the most chemically pure diamonds often with exceptional transparency and brilliance.

The 18.96 stone is qualified for the coveted ‘Fancy Vivid’ colour grading from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Only one in 100,000 diamonds possess a colour deep enough to qualify as ‘Fancy Vivid’.

The diamond carried a presale estimate of CHF30m-50m. It was hammered down at CHF 44.5m after a five-minute bidding and sold for CHF 50.3m (US$50m) to US renowned jeweller Harry Winston. It is now renamed The Winston Pink Legacy.

The 8.41-carat Pink Promise sold for a price per carat at US$2.17m in Hong Kong last year

The price per carat of US$2.6m breaks the previous auction record set by an 8.41-carat pink diamond, the Pink Promise, which was sold in Hong Kong in 2017 for US$32.48m – a price per carat at US$2.17m.


Lot details

The Pink Legacy. Fancy vivid pink cut-cornered rectangular-cut diamond

Lot no.: 311
Carats: 18.96
Colour: Fancy vivid Pink
Clarity: VS1 clarity, type IIa
GIA 2018 report no.: 2191528443
Estimate: CHF 30,000,000-50,000,000
Hammer price: CHF 44,500,000
Price realised: CHF 50,375,000


Auction summary:

Auction house: Christie’s Geneva
Sale: Magnificent Jewels
Date: 13 November 2018
Sale total: CHF 110,211,750