A five-carat vivid pink diamond sold today at Christie’s Hong Kong for $10,776,660, setting two world records – the highest price ever paid per carat ($2.1 million) for a diamond and the most expensive jewel sold at auction in 2009. Rare diamonds continue to carry the fine jewelry auction market and fancy-colored diamonds, in particular, are hot.
Vickie Sek, director of the jewelry and jadeite department at Christie’s Asia, called the diamond “the glittering star” of the sale. “Eight out of the ten most expensive jewels were acquired by discerning Asian private collectors,” Sek commented, “confirming once again Hong Kong’s position as a major market for the finest gemstones.”