Sharjah24 – AFP: An extremely rare pink diamond will be auctioned in Geneva on November 11 by Sotheby's, which says it is worth between $23 and $38 million.
Named "The Spirit of the Rose" after a famous Russian ballet, the 14.83-carat diamond mined in Russia is the biggest ever to go under the hammer in its category -- "fancy vivid purple-pink".
"The occurrence of pink diamonds in nature is extremely rare in any size," Gary Schuler, head of Sotheby's jewellery division, said in a statement.
"Only one per cent of all pink diamonds are larger than 10-carats."
Benoit Repellin, head of fine jewellery auctions at Sotheby's Geneva, said the oval-shaped diamond was "completely pure."
The rough diamond was unearthed by Russia's Alrosa -- one of the world's leading diamond producers -- in the Republic of Sakha in the northeast of the country in July 2017.
Repellin said it took a painstaking year for cutting masters to turn the diamond into its polished form.
Sotheby's said the world auction record for a diamond and any gemstone or jewel was the "CTF Pink Star", a 59.60-carat oval pink diamond that sold for $71.2 million in Hong Kong in 2017.
According to Repellin, five out of the 10 most valuable diamonds ever sold at auction were pink.
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