'Pink Star' diamond sparkles in $71.2 million record sale in HK

By Xinhua-ap (China Daily) Updated: 2017-04-06 07:30

A stunning 59.6 carat diamond known as the "Pink Star" sold for $71.2 million at a Sotheby's auction on Tuesday in Hong Kong, setting a new world record for any diamond or jewel, the auction house said.

At the same auction, other treasures were sold, including a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) bowl selling for nearly $30 million.

The oval mixed-cut Pink Star smashed the $60 million presale estimate set by Sotheby's when it went on the block.

The diamond was mined in Africa by De Beers in 1999 as a raw 132.5 carat gem and cut over a two-year period. The gem is the largest flawless fancy vivid pink diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America.

Three telephone bidders competed for the stone during five tense minutes of bidding. Sotheby's Asia Chairwoman Patti Wong said the winning bidder was Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fook.

"I know there was a lot of talk about the economy in China not being as positive as it was a few years ago," but the results from its jewelry auction on Tuesday, which included nearly 200 other lots, were very strong, she said.

Until now, the most expensive diamond sold at auction was the "Oppenheimer Blue", which fetched 56.8 million Swiss francs (then $57.6 million) last May.

Other treasures sold at the Sotheby's spring sales include the "Fish Pond" lobed bowl, which was auctioned for HK$229 million ($29.5 million), setting the second highest record for Ming porcelain.

The blue-and-white porcelain bowl has a diameter of 23 centimeters and is painted with a design of fish swimming in a pond of blossoming lotus. Made in the Xuande Period (1426-1435), the bowl has been preserved in extraordinary condition.

Sotheby's Asia Deputy Chairman Nicolas Chow said the porcelain bowl is rare and possibly unique. The current world auction record for Ming porcelain is held by the Meiyintang Chenghua (1465-1487) "Chicken Cup", which was sold for HK$281.24 million in April 2014.