High-end jewelers worldwide are anticipating a surge in interest in rare but exceedingly pricey "pink diamonds" following an auction in 2018 that set the world record price for this special gemstone.
The fabulous "Pink Legacy" diamond weighing 19 carats - and one of only a few pink diamonds in the world -- fetched a world record $50 million at auction at Christie's Geneva in November 2018. This widely covered media event has jewelers looking back to 2002 when Bennifer (remember them?) made their engagement official.
Ben Affleck gifted ex-wife Jennifer Lopez with a 6.10 carat fancy intense pink diamond (radiant cut) engagement ring with white diamond side accents. This très chic diamond engagement ring magnified awareness about pink diamonds as must-haves in a market where less expensive but more abundant white diamonds held sway.
Pink Legacy now belongs to New York City-based luxury jeweler Harry Winston, Inc., which is part of The Swatch Group. Harry Winston promptly renamed the Pink Legacy, "The Winston Pink Legacy."
There were at least five people bidding by phone for The Pink Legacy. The identity of the seller was not disclosed, however.
"The Pink Legacy brought this extremely high price of $50 million, so $2.6 million per carat which is a world record price for a pink diamond," said Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie's, and an acknowledged jewelry expert. "This stone for me is the Leonardo Da Vinci of diamonds. I don't think there is anything better."
The Pink Legacy is an 18.96 carat fancy vivid pink diamond once owned by the Oppenheimer family that built De Beers into the world's biggest diamond trader.
"Vivid" is the highest rating for a pink diamond's color. This means the gem is internally pure. It comes
Vivid colored diamonds are the most strongly saturated gems and exhibit the optimum hue of the stone. Most pink diamonds of this color weigh less than one carat, said Christie's.
The Pink Legacy is also graded internally as very pure. This is extremely rare since the pink color is formed by pressure and slippage of the crystal lattice. The process typically causes imperfections in the stone, said Christie's.
"The stone is now going to be known as Pink Legacy Diamond which Mrs. Hayek is thrilled to own," said Rahul Kadakia, international head of Jewelry at Christie's.
"In 2013, they made their first important purchase after acquiring Winston, which was the 101 carat 'D' flawless diamond, which they named the Winston Legacy. With that stone, they started the Legacy collection.
The CEO of Swatch is Nayla Hayek, daughter of the late Swatch founder, Nicolas Hayek.
Pink diamonds are the most expensive diamonds sold at auction worldwide. Five of the top 10 most expensive diamonds ever sold are pink diamonds. These include the most expensive, "The Pink Star," an oval-shaped 59.6-carat pink diamond sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong for $71 million in April 2017.
The other pink diamonds in the top 10 are The Graff Vivid Pink Diamond ($46 million); The Prince Pink Diamond. ($39.3 million); The Sweet Josephine Pink Diamond ($28.5 million) and The Perfect Pink Diamond ($23.8 million).
