Largest purple-pink 'Sakura' diamond fetches $29.3 million at an auction in Hong Kong

A 15.81 carat Sakura diamond was sold for $29.3 million at Christie's Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction on May 23. The fancy vivid purple-pink diamond has become the most expensive diamond to be ever sold at an auction, according to Christie's. Sakura is a Japanese word for cherry blossom and is the largest diamond of its kind to go under the hammer. 

Sakura diamond auctioned for $29.3 million 

The Sakura diamond fetched $29.3 million at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Hong Kong setting an auction price for a purple-pink diamond. The bidding for the ring-opened at $HK170 million and climbed to the final hammer price of $HK226.275 million, plus commission. It was bought by a telephone bidder, reported by ABCNews. The Sakura diamond has a rare and magnificent wonder of nature that represents a unique expression of identity.

The Sakura diamond is claimed to be internally flawless in terms of its "exceptional rarity" and "extraordinary optical transparency". The diamond has strong saturation and a remarkable pink hue with a secondary colour of purple. The Sakura' was auctioned alongside 'The Sweet Heart', a 4.2-carat fancy vivid heart-shaped pink diamond ring, which sold for USD 6.6 million. The final total for the Hong Kong auction was $76.8 million, which makes it the biggest-earning Christie’s jewellery sale in the last four years. The sale sold 87 per cent by value and 82 per cent by lot. In a press statement, Vickie Sek, chairman of Christie's jewellery department described its sale as an "important chapter in jewellery auction history." 

"We are very excited to have marked another important chapter in jewellery auction history today, with(The Sakura) realising a record-breaking price of US$29.3 million, continuing Christie’s tradition of offering the finest pink diamonds at auction."

IMAGE: Christie’s/Twitter