Second Time’s A Charm: The Pink Star is Up For Auction Once Again

Updated : April 4, 2017


There are some stories that are hard to forget, and in the world of diamonds the most expensive stone to ever be sold at auction is the sort that comes to mind. The incredibly beautiful 59.60 carat internally flawless, fancy vivid pink diamond just sold for a record breaking $71 million dollars at Sotheby's Hong Kong!

Aside from the utterly expensive price tag that came along with the stone, was the fact that the very rare Pink Star diamond’s sale was sold just a few year's back as well. Only, last time the sale was defaulted when the buyer wasn't able to come up with the funds. Yes, how can we possibly remove this most unfortunate event from our memory? The Pink Star is an exceptional vivid pink diamond that back in 2013 was purchased by Isaac Wolf on behalf of several investors. Only, the funds were never presented and the stone was never paid for. The auction house, Sotheby’s, was therefore forced to recall the stone and it has been in their possession ever since. Now, three years later, the fabulous diamond went up for auction once again, and this time around the sale was final.


The Drama

People do not get involved in the diamond world for the sake of drama yet drama there was when Isaac Wolf and his partners could not uphold their commitment to purchase the $83.2 million pink diamond. Diamonds like the Pink Star are generally put up for auction at very prestigious auction houses and are offered to a respectable clientele where there is a certain code of conduct. Therefore it came as an enormous surprise that the highest bidder for this highly esteemed diamond ended up leaving the auction house hanging. Not only was Wolf the highest bidder, but he outbid three strong contenders. The price he was supposed to pay was more than double the value of the “most expensive diamond” of the time, the Graff Pink.


The Diamond

Aside from its unusual and remarkable vivid pink color, the Pink Star is famous for its very large size (59.60 carats), its uncommon mixed cut, and its internally flawless clarity level. The diamond was originally a 132.5-carat rough diamond from the De Beers mine. It was mined in 1999 and was considered the most valuable polished diamond ever offered at auction at the time of its initial sale when it became known as the Steinmetz Pink. It was later sold after being shown in Monaco and was renamed the Pink Star. When Wolf purchased the diamond, he renamed it the Pink Dream. Once it was repossessed, it went back to its old name.


The Price Estimate

The Pink Star was auctioned in Hong Kong on April 4 and although it's estimate was at only $60 million, the stone brought in a total 553 million Hong Kong dollars, which is close to $71.2 million USD.


Past Records

The record for most expensive polished diamond ever sold at auction was previously held by the Oppenheimer Blue. The 14.62 carat, fancy vivid blue diamond sold for $57.5 million at a Christie's auction in Geneva last May. Until now, the most expensive pink diamond ever sold at auction was the 24.78 carat Graff Pink. That stone realized $46.16 million when sold back in 2010 at Sotheby's in Geneva.

No More Mistakes

As thorough and as cautious as Sotheby’s may be when closing deals and making sales, it apparently wasn’t enough to avoid the defaulted sale of this stone last time around. Nonetheless, it is most likely that a thing or two was learned from this saga and that it will not be repeated in the future. Cheers to the anonymous phone bidder who now holds the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction!


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