Image credit: Sotheby's
Sotheby's auction house has put up for sale a pink diamond "The Spirit of the Rose", extracted and cut by ALROSA.
"The Spirit of the Rose" was graded by GIA as fancy vivid purple-pink with excellent clarity, excellent polish and very good symmetry. it took Alrosa’s cutting factory one year to prepare and cut the diamond.
The estimated cost is USD 22,995,167 - 37,988,453.
Discovered in July 2017 at the Ebelyakh Deposit in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in North-Eastern Russia, "The Spirit of the Rose" has become the largest pink crystal ever mined in Russia. The oval diamond with an initial weight of 27.85 carats was named after the Ballet "The Spirit of the Rose", in which the legendary Russian dancer of the 20th century Vaslav Nijinsky shone.
Since their discovery in India in the early 17th century, pink diamonds have also been mined in Brazil, South Africa, Tanzania, Canada, Australia and, of course, Russia. Around 80% of the world's pink diamonds now originate from the Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Kimberley, Western Australia. Out of the mine's 20 million carat annual output, only 0.1% are classified as pink diamonds, attesting to their rarity.
Given their rarity, it is unsurprising that the value of pink diamonds has increased considerably over the centuries. The current record for a pink diamond sold at auction is held by the 'CTF Pink Star', a 59.60-carat oval mixed-cut Fancy Vivid Pink, which was auctioned at Sotheby's Hong Kong in April 2017 for $71.2 million USD.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
