It was the highest price-per-carat that a pink diamond has ever fetched at auction. The stone once belonged to the Oppenheimer diamond family and is among the most chemically pure gems in the world.
Image: Reuters/D. Balibouse
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The 19-carat, rectangular-cut "Pink Legacy" diamond sold for a record 50.375 Swiss francs (€44.3 million, $50 million) on Tuesday at Christie's in Geneva.
The auction house said that renowned jeweler Harry Winston was the buyer. The identity of the seller was not disclosed.
The diamond had been expected to fetch between $30 million and $50 million. The auctioneer struck down a hammer price of $44.5 million, which excludes the standard "buyer's premium" and other fees.
Christie's said the Pink Legacy achieved a new per-carat record and was the second most expensive one ever sold at auction.
Graded "vivid," the highest rating for a pink diamond's color, Christie's says it's among the most chemically pure gems. The stone is internally pure with a regular count and mounted on a platinum ring.
It was once owned by the Oppenheimer family, who built De Beers into the world's biggest diamond trader.
dv/rc (AP, Reuters)
Marie Antoinette's jewels up for auction
Pearl necklaces, diamonds, and a ring containing Marie Antoinette's lock of hair were auctioned off in Geneva by Sotheby's. French royals smuggled the jewels out of Paris after the revolution.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/F. Augstein
Reemerging from history
After 200 years in private ownership, jewels once worn by Marie Antoinette were auctioned off in Geneva. Each jewel in the collection is "absolutely imbued with history," said Daniela Mascetti of the Sotheby's auction house.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/F. Augstein
Marie Antoinette, a French queen from Austria
The famous queen was born in Vienna as the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I. She married the French heir apparent Louis Auguste in 1770, at the age of 14, and became the queen of France four years later. With the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, Marie Antoinette was put under house arrest, and eventually executed in 1793.
The pearl and diamond pendant
This natural pearl and diamond pendant sold for a whopping $36 million (€31.8 million), setting a record for the sale of a pearl at auction. Experts initially believed that the 26 by 18 millimeters (1 by 0.7 inches) pearl would fetch between $1-2 million. The pearl is one of ten items in the collection once worn by the French queen.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Augstein
Royal tour
Among other items, the collection also contained a diamond brooch and a pair of Marie Antoinette's earrings. The jewels have been displayed in Hong Kong, New York, Munich, London and other venues across the world.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
Rose diamonds and a strand of hair
The diamond ring, monogrammed MA for Marie Antoinette, contains a lock of the queen's hair. All of the displayed items are currently held by the Italian royal House of Bourbon-Parma.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
Back in family hands
In the aftermath of the 1789 revolution, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette made plans to flee the country. In preparation, the queen put her jewels in a wooden chest and sent them off to Brussels, where they then passed to the Austrian emperor. The escape plan failed, but the queen's last surviving child, Marie Therese (pictured) was freed in 1795 and managed to retrieve the treasure.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
Crown jewels
Sotheby's also offered items owned by other historic figures, such as the diamonds which once belonged to Marie Antoinette's friend and brother-in-law Charles X of France. The precious stones were only made into a tiara in 1912.
