Nigeria resumes mining in Zamfara state on improved security
Nigeria has lifted a ban on mining exploration in the northwestern state after a five-year suspension.
A rare pink diamond of “unparalleled colour and brightness” is expected to fetch over $35 million when it goes under Sotheby’s hammer in New York next June, potentially becoming one of the most valuable gems ever sold at auction.
The 10.57-carat diamond, named The Eternal Pink, was discovered four years ago by De Beers at its Damtshaa mine in Botswana, weighing 23.87 carats — more than twice as much as it does now.
Over the course of six months, polishers at Diacore fashioned the gem into an cushion cut to better showcase its “purplish pink”, “bubblegum” colour.
The auction house’s head of jewellery for the Americas, Quig Bruning, said in a statement that the stone was the most vivid pink diamond to ever to come to market. “This colour is the most beautiful and concentrated shade of pink in diamonds that I have ever seen.”
The flawless rock also carries the highest price per carat estimate placed on any diamond or gemstone ($3.3 million), according to Sotheby’s.
The Eternal Pink will be shown at Sotheby’s Hong Kong from April 1 to 7. The diamond will then be exhibited in Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai, Taiwan and Geneva. Its world tour will culminate with the auction in the Big Apple on June 8.
Coloured diamonds, especially pink ones, have been lately achieving top prices. They are expected to soar to new highs in the coming years as Rio Tinto closed its iconic Argyle mine. The operation was the world’s biggest diamond mine and the main global source of high-quality pink gems.
Sotheby’s set the record for any gem ever sold at an auction in 2017, with its $71.2 million sale of the 59.6-carat Pink Star to Hong Kong-based jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group.
Until then, the most expensive coloured diamond ever sold at auction was the “Oppenheimer Blue,” which fetched 56.8 million Swiss francs (about $58 million) in May 2016.
