‘Pink Legacy’ diamond sold for record $50 million

The “Pink Legacy”, a diamond weighing just under 19 carats, fetched a record 50.375 million Swiss francs ($50 million). It was purchased by U.S.-based luxury jeweler Harry Winston, Christie’s said on Tuesday. There were at least five people bidding by the phone as well as one important Asian collector was the direct under-bidder.

According to the auction house Harry Winston, is owned by Swatch whose CEO is Nayla Hayek is the daughter of the late Swatch founder Nicolas Hayek. The diamond is reported to have been renamed “The Winston Pink Legacy”, and has been added to the jeweler’s collection of rare jewels.

The chairman of Christie’s luxury group, Francois Curiel, told reporters, that the semi-annual Geneva jewelry sale netted $110 million, with 86 percent of lots finding new owners, including 11 that brought more than $1 million.

Curiel, who is also a jewel expert, said, “The Pink Legacy brought this extremely high price of $50 million, so $2.6 million per carat which is a world record price for a pink diamond. This stone for me is the Leonardo Da Vinci of diamonds, I don’t think there is anything better”.

“The stone is now going to be known as Pink Legacy Diamond which Mrs Hayek is thrilled to own. In 2013 they made their first important purchase after acquiring Winston, which was the 101 carat ‘D’ flawless diamond, which they named the Winston Legacy. With that stone they started the Legacy collection,” he also stated in the statement.

It is graded “vivid”, the highest rating for a pink diamond’s color. This particular piece of gem is internally pure with a rectangular cut, and mounted on a platinum ring.
This pink diamond is reported to be was once owned by the Oppenheimer Family, who built De Beers into the world’s biggest diamond trader. This diamond also went through a pre-sale estimate of $30 to $50 million. Though, the identity of the seller was not disclosed.

According to the auction house, vivid colored diamonds are considered as the most strongly saturated gems, showing the optimum hue of the stone. Most pink diamonds of this color weigh less than one carat.