Editor’s Note
A rare purple diamond named ‘Sakura’ has set a new auction record for its color category, fetching nearly €24 million at Christie’s Hong Kong. While it did not reach the highest pre-sale estimate, the result solidifies the exceptional value of these coveted gems.
Sakura, a rare purple diamond weighing 15.81 carats, was sold last Saturday at Christie’s auction house in Hong Kong for nearly 24 million euros (29.1 million US dollars). This price sets a record for a diamond of this prized and rare coloration, making it the most expensive of its kind ever auctioned. It did not reach the 31 million euros, the highest price considered by the auctioneers for the largest purple diamond ever offered at auction. Thus, it did not disappoint the firm’s expectations, though it did fall short of some experts’ predictions.
Set in a simple platinum ring, its color resembles that of the Japanese cherry blossom, sakura, from which it takes its name. Less than 10% of pink diamonds weigh more than 0.2 carats, so Sakura, at nearly eighty times that size, is the largest “Fancy Vivid Purplish Pink” diamond ever auctioned.
As soon as the bidding opened, the spectacular gem sparked a bidding war between two telephone buyers. After five frantic increases, the ring was awarded for 226.3 million Hong Kong dollars. It surpassed the previous record for a purple diamond, set by ‘The Spirit of the Rose’, a 14.83-carat diamond auctioned by Sotheby’s in Geneva last November for 21.3 million euros.
Sakura is classified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in the ‘IIa’ category, which includes less than 2% of all diamonds in the world. It is also cataloged as ‘Internally Flawless’, meaning it shows no visible impurities.
Only 4% of pink diamonds offer an intense violet color, and Sakura’s is deep and vivid enough to increase its rarity and value. The GIA defines it as ‘Fancy Vivid’, the highest grade for colored diamonds with bright saturation.
In the same auction last Sunday, another ring with a heart-shaped pink diamond was sold for 5.3 million euros. Despite the spectacular figures, the pandemic has diminished the global jewelry market. The firm Bain & Co. estimates the decline in diamond sales at 15% worldwide in 2020 and 40% in the second quarter of this year in the United States, even though the most exclusive pieces still reach stratospheric figures.
Sakura is far from the absolute record for a polished diamond of any type, set by the ‘Pink Star’, a 59.6-carat stone auctioned at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2017 for 58.4 million euros. The local jeweler Chow Tai Fook bought the gem and renamed it ‘CTF Pink Star’.