9 Legendary Diamond Sales

9 Legendary Diamond Sales

by Abbey Ellis, Account Coordinator

Everyone knows the saying “diamonds are forever,” but have you heard of these 9 diamond purchases that altered the natural diamond’s legacy? They will forever mark a turning point in diamond sales.

1. The Hancock Red; a small 0.95 carat purplish-red diamond; 1987 – This sale was the first time most people had ever heard of a red diamond. To this day, many diamond dealers have never handled a red diamond due to them being such a rare occurrence. 
2. The Pink Star; a 59.60-carat vivid pink diamond; 2017 – This jewel is one of a kind. It remains the largest, best-quality pink diamond known to exist, and experts say there will never be another one like it.
3. The auction of Liz Taylor’s collection; 2001 – This record-breaking sale more than doubled the previous record for a single-owner jewelry collection. Among the 80 jewels was Taylor’s 33.19-carat diamond ring, which sold for about three times its estimate, and set a new price-per-carat record for a colorless diamond. 
4. The Flawless Star; a 45.46-carat round brilliant-cut d-flawless diamond; 2022 – In the midst of the Covid lockdown, buyers still had the desire for diamonds. However, since buyers couldn’t visit stores, they turned to online auctions to get their fix, which led to this diamond becoming the most expensive jewel sold in an online-only sale.
5. The auction of the Duchess of Windsor’s collection; 1987 – This sale broke the record for a single-owner jewelry collection at the time, with some buyers being other famous jewelry collectors such as Liz Taylor and Joan Collins. The Duchess’ emerald and diamond engagement ring and her Cartier diamond heart brooch from the Duke were just a couple of pieces among the 200 offered. 
6. The Oppenheimer Blue; a 14.62-carat rectangular cut vivid blue diamond; 2016 – As the largest vivid blue diamond to ever hit the auction block, it could only be described as one of the rarest in the world. At the time of sale, this diamond set a new world record for any jewel sold at auction, until the Pink Star made its debut. 
7. The Empress Eugenie Diamond Bow Brooch; 2008 – When this brooch came up for sale, the Louvre rallied its supporters to raise the funds to purchase the jewel and bring some of the French crown jewels home to France to stay in the Louvre’s permanent collection. 
8. The Harry Winston Pink; an 18.96-carat pink diamond; 2018 – After Nyla Hayek purchased the Harry Winston company in 2013, she made the bold move of purchasing this diamond to make it known that she was serious about maintaining the Harry Winston house as one of the world’s premier sources of rare diamonds. This diamond sale set a new price per carat record for a fancy-colored diamond.
9. The Rock; a 228.31-carat white diamond; 2022 – Considering the average size of a diamond engagement ring in America is 1.08 carats, this diamond is equivalent to more than 200 engagement rings. This rare treasure was the world’s largest white diamond ever offered at auction and it showed the world that bigger can be better because a larger stone is incrementally more valuable. 

Read the Natural Diamond Council’s full article here to learn more about these 9 legendary diamond sales.