A 20 minute bidding war for a pink diamond culminated in a final bid of $57.7 million, exceeding the pre-sale estimate by over 230%, and setting a record for the highest price per carat ever paid for a diamond at auction.
Estimated to sell for around $21 million, the 11.15 carat Williamson Pink Star was purchased by a private collector from Boca Raton, Florida. The owner has changed the diamond’s name to the Rosenberg Williamson Pink Star.
Two Legends
The original name is a tribute to two legendary pink diamonds. One of those is the 59.6 ct Pink Star diamond which sold for a record $71.2m at auction in 2017. The other is the 23.6 ct Williamson Pink diamond which was presented to the late Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift in 1947. The Williamson Pink and the Williamson Pink Star were both recovered from the Williamson mine in Tanzania.
This 11.15 carat specimen is the second largest internally flawless fancy vivid pink diamond ever to appear at auction.
