Germany Chancellor plans lithium deal with Serbia after Rio ruling
Olaf Scholz plans to visit Serbia this week to secure supplies of lithium that are critical for the nation’s energy transition and auto industry.
The largest, most perfect pink diamond to have ever been offered at auction is once again going under Sotheby’s hammer on April 4, with experts predicting the plum-size rock could fetch over $60 million.
The plum-size internally flawless pink gem could fetch over $60 million in Hong Kong next month.
Described as one of “the earth’s greatest natural treasures”, the oval-cut 59.6 carat “Pink Star” is the largest internally flawless pink diamond that the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has ever graded.
First unveiled to the public in 2003, the rock was called the “Steinmetz Pink,” but it was renamed after it was first sold for an undisclosed sum in 2007.
In 2013, the diamond broke a new world record price for a gemstone at auction by fetching $83.2 million in Geneva, way above the $60 million experts had predicted.
Not long after the sale, however, rumours began to spread that the consortium of buyers, led by diamond cutter Isaac Wolf, defaulted on the deal. In February 2014, Sotheby’s confirmed those unofficial reports and said the diamond was again part of its inventory, valued at approximately $72 million.
The Pink Star is graded as Type IIa, which is rare for any pink diamond, much less one of this size. (Photo: Sotheby’s)
The Pink Star, originated from a 132.5-carat rough mined by De Beers in 1999, is more than twice the size of the 24.78-carat “Graff Pink” diamond that set the world auction record for a diamond, gemstone or jewel when it was sold at Sotheby’s Geneva in 2010 for $46.2m, the auction house said.
The pink beauty goes under at Sotheby’s hammer at its Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite sale.
