$15 Million for 32.33ct Rough Pink Diamond found by Petra
March 27th, 2016 by Noam Flint
Notorious diamond mining company Petra Diamonds has made headlines yet again, this time with the sale of its 32.33 carat rough pink diamond for $15 million.
32.33 carats Rough Pink Diamond
Image by Petra Diamonds
One of the World’s Biggest Pink Diamonds Discovered
The rough pink diamond was discovered in its Williamson mine in Tanzania, which it co-owns with the Tanzanian government. This sale comes at the heels of their other pink diamond news, the discovery and subsequent sale of a 23.16 carat rough pink diamond in December for $10.1 million. While it is unclear when the 32 carat rough diamond was unearthed, its sale means that enough major diamond companies had enough time to view it and place bids.
As 32 carats is an enormous size for a natural pink diamond, it comes as no surprise that its price was settled upon at $15 million. If the buyer, M. A. Anavi Diamond Group, who specializes in large colored diamonds, can polish it with little loss of carat weight, the diamond would join a mere handful of pink diamonds that exist in such a size.
About the Buyer
Coincidentally, Anavi is also the buyer of the 23 carat rough pink diamond in December, and is actually known for buying many famous and important rough diamonds.
Petra is a notable company as well. Some of Petra’s most important diamond discoveries include a 232 carat white diamond from September 2014, a 122.52 carat blue diamond in June 2014, the Blue Moon of Josephine which was discovered in January 2014, a 25.5 carat blue diamond in April 2013, the Cullinan Heritage discovered September 2009, and the Star of Josephine in October 2008.
The 32 carat rough pink diamond was bought by Golden Yellow Diamonds on behalf of the M. A. Anavi Diamond Group for $15 million, or $463,965 per carat. Petra will also receive 10% of the proceeds from the sale of the polished diamond, seemingly on top of the $15 million that they already received for the diamond.
The Williamson mine, where the diamond was discovered, is renowned for ‘bubblegum pink’ diamonds, including the 23 carat Williamson Pink that was gifted to Queen Elizabeth and is one of the largest pink diamonds in existence. We have no doubt that this diamond will be polished to a spectacular final product and will make headlines again in its new form.
What do you think? Will Anavi be able to polish the diamond to a large size and maintain the carat weight? Can it break the record price for a pink diamond sold at auction, currently held by the 24.78 carat Fancy Vivid Pink ‘the Graff Pink’?
