India Luxury Market
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Update: THE ORANGE DIAMOND SOLD FOR A WHOPPING $35.5 MILLION ($35,540,612 OR €26,533,856)
The most extraordinary Orange Diamond, ever! At weight 14.82 Carats, this Fancy Vivid Orange Diamond is the largest diamond of its kind, in the world. ‘The Orange’ as it is most aptly named, will become the property of a lucky bidder, ready to spend US$17 Million to US$20 Million or more, on November 12, in Geneva, at a Christie’s auction of Magnificent Jewels.
The auction will feature more than 280 lots and will be lead with the bidding of this gorgeous Orange Diamond.
The largest Orange Diamond sold, before the discovery of ‘The Orange’ diamond, weighed about 6 carats.
Fancy Vivid Orange Diamonds are extremely rare to find. The GIA or the Gemological Institute of America has noted that a coloured diamond of this colour are rarely above 3 or 4 carats in weight, after polishing. ‘The Orange’ is a thrilling discovery. Although, it has been in the possession of its previous owner for 30 years!
‘The Orange’ Diamond is a VS1, type 1A gem.
*Image: Christie’s
The Pink Star Diamond
Another rare colourful diamond will be sold under the hammer, in Geneva on 13 November, by Sotheby’s Auction House. The largest fancy vivid Pink Diamond valued to be sold for more than US$60 Million.
59.60 Carat, internally flawless diamond was discovered in a mine in Africa, nearly 15 years ago. Unearthed by De Beers company, the pink diamond in its rough form weighed 132.5 carat. It took 2 years to polish the diamond to this clarity. The fancy vivid pink diamond was first sold in 2007. It was at that time, the diamond was christened ‘The Pink Star’.
Interestingly, pink diamonds were first discovered in India, decades ago. The pink colour in diamonds is said to be the most wanted. The ‘Agra” diamond too, is pink in colour.
There are several types of pink diamonds – fancy pink, fancy intense pink, deep pink etc. But the highest colour grade for a pink diamond is ‘Fancy Vivid’.
The Pink Star is unique not just for its colour grade. It is also a Type IIa gem: stones in this group are chemically the purest of all diamond crystals and often have extraordinary optical transparency.
The possibility of finding a pink diamond is very rare, thus this colour diamond is often highly priced, specially if it is above 10 carats and has an intense colour.
2013 has turned out to be a remarkable year of rare diamonds. Sotheby’s recently sold a 118 carat colourless diamond for nearly US$30M.
*Image: Sotheby’s
Shilpa is a world renowned journalist and an expert in decoding India and Asia’s luxury markets for global readers. Her original, in-depth reports and analysis are frequently featured in prestigious international titles across the UK, China, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Oman.
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