An exceptional 19-carat rose diamond on sale at Christie’s in Geneva ♦ ︎
If you like the pink colour, mark this date on the calendar: November 13, 2018. On that day Christie’s Geneva will present The Pink Legacy, the largest and most refined Fancy Vivid Pink diamond ever offered at the auction by the London house. The diamond weighs almost 19 carats, has a rectangular cut and will go on sale at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva. The stone comes from the Oppenheimer family and is estimated at between 30 and 50 million dollars. The Pink Legacy will be exhibited on a world tour before being auctioned.
The diamond was judged to be Vivid shade, the highest level of coloration for a diamond, from the Gemological Institute of America.
Vivid colored diamonds are the gems with greater saturation. The rectangular cut is traditionally used for white stones. But also the weight that is considered exceptional: most of the pink diamonds of this color weighs less than one carat. The Pink Legacy is also very pure internally: another extremely rare aspect in pink diamonds, where the color is formed by the pressure and slippage of the crystal lattice that typically causes imperfections in the stone. Furthermore, it is classified as a type IIa diamond, with little or no nitrogen inside, as only less than 2% of the gems. IIA type stones are some of the chemically purer diamonds, often with exceptional transparency and brilliance. One of the most celebrated rose diamonds is the Williamson, found in the Williamson mine located in Tanzania in 1947. It was presented as a wedding present by Dr. John Williamson, the owner of the mine, to the Queen (then Princess) Elizabeth.
Pink diamonds are among the most coveted by collectors. So far only four Vivid pink diamonds of over ten carats have been auctioned. The maximum was reached in November 2017, when Christie’s Hong Kong sold The Pink Promise, a bright oval-shaped pink diamond of just under 15 carats for 32.5 million dollars, which established and remains the record price of world auction per carat for each pink diamond. Federico Graglia
