Gem of the Week: The Pink Diamond

The Graff Pink
Sotheby's

When we think of “Fancy Color” (I still hate that term) diamonds, we tend to think of yellow and blue. However, diamonds are available in a wide range of colors. Among the most valuable of the colored diamonds are pink diamonds.

Pink diamonds have been in the news quite often in the last decade. To mark their brief engagement, Ben Affleck presented one to Jennifer Lopez—making the rosy-hued diamond all the more popular. Last month, a 24.78 carat diamond of “fancy intense pink” color took the world’s record for the highest price paid for any gem at auction. Auctioned by Sotheby’s, the diamond was purchased for $46 million by London jeweler Laurence Graff. The diamond—now named “The Graff Pink” sold for almost double the cost Graff paid in 2008 for a 35.56 carat blue diamond. Graff described the diamond thusly: “It is the most fabulous diamond I’ve ever seen in the history of my career.”

Like other colored diamonds, the more intense the color, the more valuable the stone. As I always caution you, when buying a colored diamond, make sure to ask if the stone has been treated or enhance to produce a more desirable color. While enhanced diamonds have their place, you should not be paying the same price you would for a natural colored diamond.