Christie’s sold the 34.65-carat Fancy Intense Pink diamond – called the Princie diamond – in New York on April 16 for a record $39,323,750 with premium, or $1,135,000 per carat.
The cushion-cut diamond, originating in the fabled Golconda mines in south central India, was acquired by an anonymous collector who bid by phone.
The price smashed the record for a jewel sold at Christie’s. It was formerly held by the $24.3 million sale in December 2008 of the Wittelsbach diamond.
The Princie was first offered at auction in 1960, and acquired bought by the London office of Van Cleef & Arpels for £46,000, then worth $1.3 million.
It received its name at a party at Van Cleef & Arpels' Paris store, where it was christened the “Princie” in honor of the 14-year-old Prince of Baroda.
The second highest-selling lot at the Christie’s sale was a rectangular-cut D color diamond weighing 30.32 carats bought for $4,435,750, or US$146,300 per carat. A marquise-cut D color diamond ring by Harry Winston sold for $3,259,750.
The auction of over 290 jewels raised a total of $81,358,700, making it the best various owner jewelry sale total in the United States, Christie’s said.
Its next major jewels auctions are in Geneva on May 15, and in Hong Kong on May 28.