Whiteflash-Diamond Playground

From Bloomberg - A rare red diamond, the largest of its type ever to appear at auction, sold for a record at a Christie’s International sale in Geneva yesterday. The fancy purplish-red diamond, weighing 2.26 carats and mounted on a ring, fetched $2.7 million including the buyer’s premium, Christie’s said. That’s $1,180,340 per carat, the highest ever for a red diamond at an auction. The record was previously held by a 0.95-carat gem called the Hancock Red, bought in 1987 for the equivalent of $926,316 per carat. Jeweler Laurence Graff was last night’s buyer, Christie’s said. The auction took in $48.6 million in total, compared with a presale estimate of more than $47 million. Rival Sotheby’s sold a flawless white diamond the previous day for $16.2 million, the second-highest auction price for a jewel. The results underscore a bull market in art and jewelry sales that has been boosted by newly rich collectors from Russia, Asia and the Middle East. ”It’s one of the rarest stones at that size and that quality,” said Richard Tilles, a U.S.-based dealer. “Part of the reason for the record price is that the dollar is so weak.” Last night’s sale was the first time the red diamond, which surpassed its high estimate of $1.5 million, had come on the auction market. “There is a lot more demand than there is supply at the moment on the market, especially in the high qualities,” Eric Valdieu, the head of Christie’s jewelry department in Geneva, said before the auction. Valdieu said the red stone, a recent discovery, may have been mined in Australia, given the depth of its color. Only a few have come on the market in the past 20 years.