Pear-shaped pink diamond expected to reap $25-35M at auction

A pear-shaped 18-carat pink diamond is set to be sold at auction on Tuesday and is expected to fetch between USD 25 million and USD 35 million, Christies says. Christies says the first pink diamonds ever recorded were found in Indias Golconda mines in the 16th century, before others turned up over the centuries in places like Africa, Australia, Brazil and Russia.

A pear-shaped 18-carat pink diamond is set to be sold at auction on Tuesday and is expected to fetch between USD 25 million and USD 35 million, Christie's says. The “Fortune Pink” fancy vivid pink stone, said to be the largest of its kind and shape to go on the block, headlines the auction house's latest Geneva sale of jewelry.

The auction comes six months after Christie's sold “The Rock” — a 228-carat egg-sized white diamond billed as the largest of its kind to go up for auction — for more than USD 21.75 million, including fees. That was at the low end of the expected range.

The pink stone's auction follows a showroom tour in New York, Shanghai, Singapore and Taiwan before its arrival in Geneva. Christie's says the first pink diamonds ever recorded were found in India's Golconda mines in the 16th century, before others turned up over the centuries in places like Africa, Australia, Brazil and Russia.