“Bulgari Pink”: Ring featuring a rare diamond changes hands in Geneva
Keystone-SDA
A rare 24-carat “Bulgari Pink”, regarded as the “Mona Lisa” of pink diamonds, changed hands for CHF12.1 million at auction in Geneva.
Max Fawcett, head of the auction house’s jewellery department, used the name Mona Lisa as a metaphor for the exceptional purity and transparency of this extremely rare gemstone.
An estimated value of up to CHF15 million had been set in the run-up to the auction. However, Fawcett told the dpa that in the category above CHF10 million, the field of collectors is relatively small. Consequently, everyone was satisfied with the price.
According to Christie’s, the piece of jewellery had been in the possession of a European aristocratic family for around 70 years. An ancestor of the previous owner had purchased the rough diamond in India and had it cut by the jeweller Bulgari and set in a platinum ring.
Christie’s is keeping quiet about whose hand the expensive piece will adorn in future. “The ring will be given as a gift, and it will be worn,” Fawcett divulged.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
