Fancy that.
One of Earth’s rarest diamonds just sold for an eye-watering $14.6 million at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues on Nov. 10.
The 24-carat Fancy Intense Pink emerald-cut diamond presented as “The Bulgari Pink” is fresh to market, hidden away for more than seven decades, according to the jeweler.
Besides being a rare pink color, the ritzy rock attracted interest due to its pedigreed European noble family history and caliber.
The Bulgari Pink diamond’s quality is exceptionally rare, classified as a Type IIa diamond — a category for which fewer than 2% of natural diamonds worldwide qualify.
The brilliant gem was sold in its purest form, free of imperfections, with astonishing clarity.
“Pink diamonds owe their color to a rare distortion of the crystal lattice caused by intense pressure during their formation within the Earth. The structural deformation alters the way light passes through the diamond, producing its distinctive pink hue,” Christie’s told Forbes.
The raw stone was acquired in India in the 1950s, hailing from the legendary Golconda region where the rare Type IIa diamonds were mined.
Golconda has produced some of the world’s most famous diamonds for over 2,000 years, including Elizabeth Taylor’s iconic 33-carat white diamond, which sold for $8.8 million in 2011 ($13.16 million today, adjusted for inflation).
The Bulgari Pink was then taken to the namesake Italian atelier in the ’50s, where it was set into a ring — hence the name.
“Tonight we witnessed the sale of The Bulgari Pink, a spectacular 24-carat diamond unseen for more than seven decades. With strong global demand tonight, The Bulgari Pink, the final lot of our Magnificent Jewels sale, ended our run of live auctions in Geneva this week on a high,” said Max Fawcett, Global Head of Jewellery at Christie’s, in a press release following the event.
Fawcett referred to the sparkler as the “Mona Lisa of pink diamonds.”
The last time a quality pink diamond was sold was back in 2023, another pink diamond billed “The Eternal Pink” acquired by luxury auction house Sotheby sold for a staggering $35 million in 2023. The dazzling bubblegum pink gem was discovered in 2020 in a Botswana mine, according to Sotheby’s.
So if you’re on the hunt for an ultra-coveted pink diamond, you unfortunately may have to wait until the next noble family auctions theirs off.
