Christie’s Auction House announced recently the holding of its live Hong Kong Magnificient Jewels Sale bearing No. 19860, on Sunday, 23 rd May, 2021, featuring an outstanding selection of exquisite gemstones, jadeite and stunning iconic signed pieces from famous jewellery houses, showcasing the very best of luxury. Top Lot of the Sale, according to the auction house, will be the “Sakura Diamond,” the world’s largest ever internally flawess, fancy vivid purple-pink diamond, weighing 15.81 carats, which will feature alongside the “Sweet Heart Diamond,” a 4.19-carat, fancy vivid pink, heart-shaped diamond and a 50.05-carat, D-Color, Flawless, briolette diamond, which will be offered without reserve.
The rectangular mixed-cut Sakura Diamond mounted on a ring, flanked by wedge-shaped colorless diamonds on its shoulders, is expected to fetch between HKD 195 – HKD 300 million equivalent to between USD 25 – USD 38 million.
Commenting on the sale of the rare pink diamond, Vickie Sek, Chairman of the Department of Jewellery at Christie’s Asia Pacific region, said “Christie’s has offered some of the largest and the rarest pink diamonds in history across our global salesrooms, highlighted by the “Winston Pink Legacy” sold in Geneva in 2018 for USD 50.4 million, setting an auction record per-carat for any pink diamond of USD 2.65 million. This season we are very honoured to continue this fine tradition by presenting the “Sakuira Diamond” in Hong Kong. This exceptionally rare and magnificent wonder of nature represents a unique expressioin of identity and mesmirising beauty, through its enthralling purple-pink hue, that will undoubtedly capturw the hearts of discerning connoisseurs and collectors worldwide.”
The “Sakura Diamond” is a 15.81-carat, fancy vivid purple pink, internally flawless, Type Iia, rectangular mixed-cut diamond. Such fancy colored diamonds are among the rarest and most valuable diamonds, the pink coloration being caused by a random distortion of their molecular lattice, whicih makes such diamonds extremely challenging to cut from their rough form.
According to GIA less than 10 % of pink diamonds weigh more than 0.2 carat. Hence, the weight of 15.81 carats is indeed exceptional for a pink diamond. Further, of all pink diamonds only 4% possess a color deep enoiugh to qualify as fancy vivid, further enhancing Sakura Diamond’s rarity. On top of that Type Iia diamonds account for less than 2% of all gem-quality diamonds, making Sakura Diamond to qualify for the “Rarest of the Rare” category.
Apart from the strong saturation and remarkable pink hue, the Sakura Diamond also displays a Secondary Purple Color, reminiscent of the fascinating color of Cherry Blossoms, known as “Sakura” in Japanese, that bloom for a very short period, indicating the beginning of Spring, from which the name of the diamond is derived.
