Editor’s Note
This 2014 report details the stunning default on the world’s most expensive gemstone, a 59.6-carat pink diamond sold for $83.2 million at Sotheby’s. It serves as a high-profile reminder of the risks and unpredictability inherent in the rarefied world of ultra-luxury auctions.
At a Sotheby’s auction, a New York diamond cutter won the bid for the most expensive gemstone of all time. Three months later, it turns out the buyer cannot pay. 04.03.2014 – 11:27 AM.
The 59.6-carat pink diamond fetched a price of $83.2 million. Photo: dpa
New York. In November, a New York diamond cutter outbid three of his competitors to win the auction for the world’s most expensive gemstone. However, the buyer cannot pay. The 59.6-carat diamond achieved a price of $83.2 million (€60.3 million) in a transaction guaranteed by Sotheby’s. Due to the buyer’s payment default, the auction house has now acquired the gemstone itself, as it recently announced. In Sotheby’s inventory, the diamond is listed at approximately $72 million.
The original auction on November 13, 2013, was seen as a market upswing and a publicity success for Sotheby’s.
The auction house itself had previously been under pressure from investors – including hedge fund manager and billionaire Dan Loeb. In October, he had demanded the resignation of Sotheby’s CEO William Ruprecht and criticized the internal operations of the auction house.