The Raj Pink, the World’s largest Pink Diamond, will be the Top Player on Geneve

7 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

Sotheby’s will be presenting ‘The Raj Pink’, the world’s largest known Fancy Intense Pink diamond, weighing 37.30 carats. It will headline the auction house’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale in Geneva on November 15.  

“The discovery of any pink diamond is exceptional, but the Raj Pink’s remarkable size and intensity of colour places it in the rarefied company of the most important pink diamonds known,” says David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewellery Division.

The rough diamond which yielded ‘The Raj Pink’ was studied for over a year after its discovery in 2015. It was then entrusted to a master cutter, who brought the diamond’s innermost beauty to full display by crafting it into a sparkling cushion-modified brilliant cut.

"The Raj Pink" was named by the current owner of the diamond, who wishes to remain anonymous. It is based on the Sanskrit word for ‘king’.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), which certified the diamond, characterized it as an “astonishing stone”, describing its hue as “a very bright and ravishing fancy intense pink color”. It continued, “For a diamond to display strong, unmodified pink color like that observed in The Raj Pink is rare, particularly at so considerable a weight”.

The auction house set the current record price for a fancy intense pink diamond when it sold the Graff Pink for $46.2 million, or $1.86 million per carat, in November 2010. At 24.78 carats, the Graff Pink is a third smaller than the Raj Pink and has a lighter color, Sotheby's noted.

Since that sale, the auction market for exceptionally rare and beautiful colored diamonds, notably pinks and blues, has been buoyant.

“Only on the rarest occasions do diamonds with vibrant, shocking color like the Raj Pink’s emerge… only the most privileged and knowledgeable in the industry know of their existence. With an unmodified Fancy Intense Pink hue, substantial size and desirable clarity, the Raj Pink is certainly one of those gems that only few may have the honor of experiencing”  the GIA underlined in the report.