The Pink Star

Savannah Saesan

More stories from Savannah Saesan

(PC via Vicent Yu)

(PC via Vicent Yu)

They say ‘a diamond is a girl’s best friend,’ but what about a $71.2 million pink diamond?

Otherwise known as the Pink Star, the diamond is 59.6 carrots. The “Pink Star” is now world’s most expensive diamond according to the auction house in Hong Kong, where it was sold on March 29th.

“The gem is the largest flawless fancy vivid pink diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America. It was sold for a hammer price of $63.0 million, not including the buyer’s premium. Sotheby’s says the buyer is Hong Kong jewelry company Chow Tai Fook, which beat out two other telephone bidders. Until now, the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction was the “Oppenheimer Blue,” which fetched 56.8 million Swiss francs (then $57.6 million) last May. The previous world auction record for a pink diamond was $46.2 million for the 24.78 carat “Graff Pink” in 2010,” said nbcnews.com.

The “Pink Star,” although was very expensive, earned its right to high prices.

Senior Morgan Spencer wishes she had enough money to buy the diamond herself.

“The diamond is very beautiful, and the owner should hold onto it for as long as they can,” Spencer commented. “They were very lucky to get it, and hopefully they enjoy it.”

“The “Pink Star” was mined in Africa by De Beers in 1999 as a raw 132.5 carat gem and cut over a two-year period. In November 2013 it was auctioned for a record $83 million to New York diamond cutter Isaac Wolf. However, Sotheby’s revealed months later in its 2014 earnings report that Wolf defaulted on the transaction. The auction house was forced to buy the diamond from the seller because it had guaranteed a $60 million sale price,” according to nbcnews.com.

Makayla Mcnett, a sophomore, believes diamonds are a rare find that people should appreciate more.

“The rare diamonds people find are very lucky. It is interesting that there are diamonds out there that large,” McNett said.