“Diamonds are forever,” goes the saying. Unfortunately, the most expensive diamonds are beyond the reach of all but wealthiest people. Millions of dollars are splashed around as the rarest and most expensive diamonds hit the auction block. The most expensive diamond to sell at an auction, the Graff Pink, sold for $46 million. The runners-up fetched $23.4 million and $23.2 million respectively. Want more? Satisfy you diamond fetish with our list of the most expensive diamonds sold at auction.
1. The Graff Pink
Price: $46 million
Date of Auction: November 2010
Fans of the famous Graff Pink diamond liken the gem to pink champagne. British billionaire Laurence Graff purchased the 24-carat diamond at a Sotheby’s auction paying a record-making $46 million for the rare gem. Owners of collectible gems and jewelry do not usually extend their surnames to their acquisitions. But Graff did just that. After all, he had just purchased the most expensive diamond ever sold at an auction. The sale price was beyond even the most optimistic estimates. The potentially flawless diamond with a rose pink color is among the rarest gems in the world. It sits amidst smaller diamonds on an elegant silver ring.
2. The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond
Price: $23.4 million
Date of Auction: December 2008
Laurence Graff holds the unique distinction of owning the two most expensive diamonds auctioned. Until the Graff Pink unseated it, the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond wore the crown of the most expensive diamond to be auctioned off. Discovered by Wittelsbach in India, this historic diamond was owned by Philip IV of Spain. Originally a 35.56-carat diamond, the gemstone has been part of the Austrian and Bavarian Crown Jewels. For this reason, diamond experts were dismayed when Graff decided to remove the gem’s flaws and employed three diamond cutters to do so. The famous diamond was thus whittled down to 31.06 carats. The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond bears a fancy deep blue color and is internally flawless.
3. The Perfect Pink
Price: $23.2 million
Date of Auction: November 2010
The third most expensive diamond to be auctioned missed stealing the second spot by a whisker. The so-called Perfect Pink Diamond was purchased during a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong during November 2010. Pink diamonds are rare. Pink diamonds weighing 14.23 carats are rarer still. So the anonymous buyer who purchased the Perfect Pink for a staggering $23.2 million must be a happy with the buy. This rarest of the rare gemstones sits atop an 18-karat rose and white gold ring and is flanked by single rectangular diamonds on either side. You cannot miss the intense pink color on this rectangular fancy-cut stone.
