'The Pink Dream': An Auction Record for Any Jewel
By David Bennett | November 13, 2013
GENEVA - Applause often occurs at the end of an historic sale and tonight I felt compelled to join in the acclaim as a bidder directly in front of me at the rostrum bought the 59.60-carat Internally Flawless Fancy Vivid Pink Diamond that was the star of our Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale for $83,187,381.
The stone was bought by the famous diamond cutter Isaac Wolf who has renamed it ‘The Pink Dream,’ which now holds the world auction record for a diamond; the world auction record for a pink diamond; the world auction record for any coloured diamond – and the world auction record for any jewel.
The landmark figure eclipses the previous record at $46.2 million established by Sotheby’s Geneva for the magnificent ‘Graff Pink’ in 2010. What’s truly unbelievable is that I’ve already seen similar scenes this year as last month Sotheby’s in Hong Kong set a record for the highest total ever for a jewellery sale in Asia and a record price for the greatest white diamond ever to be offered at auction, a 118-plus carat stone sold for a record $30.8 million.
Taken as a whole the auction tonight was a tour-de-force as a succession of wonderful pieces went on to achieve the highest jewellery sale total in history at $199,512,930. In addition to those set for the pink, four further records were established: for a jewel by Van Cleef & Arpels at $9,685,000, a record for a pair of colourless diamonds at $9,218,588, and an auction record for a sapphire jewel at $7,142,143.
This evening was an unparalleled moment – to witness the saleroom at the Hotel Beau-Rivage on the shores of Lake Geneva tonight was to be present at the making of history.
