Record price at auction for rare diamond

A rare diamond has sold at auction for a record price.


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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

A rare diamond has sold at auction for $83 million (£52 million), setting a new world record price tag for a gemstone.

The diamond – which is known as the Pink Star – was sold to Isaac Wolf, who announced he intends to rename it the Pink Dream. It cost him 68 million Swiss francs.

Announcing the sale, Sotheby's David Bennett said: "Ladies and gentlemen, 68 million is the world record bid for a diamond ever and it's right here."

The auctioneer revealed that the diamond was mined by De Beers in Africa in 1999 and he described it as "extraordinarily rare".

He said: "Very, very few of these stones have ever appeared at auction."

Experts spent two years preparing the diamond to be sold, with the Pink Star recorded at 59.60 carat at its final state.

The record sale of the gemstone beats the previous milestone of the $46.2 million that was paid for the Graff Pink diamond three years ago. That stone was half the size of the Pink Star.

Investors purchase gemstones such as rare diamonds as they are deemed as one of the safest bets around in terms of increasing in value.

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