PINK DIAMOND SELLS FOR R1 BILLION IN HONG KONG

If diamonds really are a girl’s best friend, someone in Florida, United States is about to meet her best friend for life.

The 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star diamond was sold at an auction in Hong Kong on Friday. The rare diamond was sold for nearly R1 billion. According to auction house Sotheby’s, it’s the second-highest price paid at an auction for any jewel.

Initially it was estimated that the pink diamond will go for an amount in the region of R378 million, but an undisclosed buyer from Boca Raton in Florida bought it for more than twice that.

Pink diamonds are the most in-demand of all the diamonds because they are also the rarest. The Williamson Pink Star was the second-largest pink diamond to be sold at auction.

Its predecessor was sold at auction in 2017. The CTF Pink Star was also sold in Hong Kong for R1.2 billion.

News24 reports that the Williamson Pink Star was named after two other pink diamonds: The record-setting CTF Pink Star and the Williamson Stone, a 23.6-carat diamond given as a wedding present to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.

Image credit: Belfast Telegraph