Russia’s most expensive diamond to go on sale
A unique pink diamond weighing 27.85 carats which was mined by Russian diamond producer Alrosa last year is expected to be auctioned at $500,000 per carat.
The most expensive gem ever discovered in Russia will be cut before it goes under the hammer, according to the head of the company Sergey Ivanov. The rough diamond is about the size of a large almond.
“We believe that its value can reach approximately half a million dollars per carat. This is a unique pink diamond, it is the most expensive diamond ever mined in the Russian history,” Ivanov told NTV news channel.
He added that the precious stone will be cut in Russia, at the company’s own enterprise with the help of international experts, “but this will be a Russian cut.” The pink stone is almost free of inclusions.
Colored diamonds weighing over ten carats are very rare and are recovered about once a year. As for the pink shades, by far the largest 3.86-carat pink diamond was found by Alrosa in 2012. Apart from this stone, in the last eight years, it has only recovered three pink diamonds weighing over two carats.
One of the world's largest producers of diamonds, Alrosa accounts for about 25 percent of global production and 95 percent of all diamonds mined in Russia. In 2014, Alrosa sold a diamond weighing 47.5 carats for $1.8 million at Sotheby's in New York.
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