A high-quality "exceptionally rare and truly magnificent pink" 24.78 carat emerald-cut diamond is being auctioned by auction house Sotheby's.  According to various media publications, it has the potential to garner a record-breaking price.

According to David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's International Jewelry Division, bids on the pink diamond were said to be anywhere from 27 to 39 million dollars. "It really is one of the most important diamond auctions over the last 30 years," Bennett said.  There are potential buyers from Asia, Europe, America, and the Middle East.   

The pink diamond has been graded as Fancy Intense Pink by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and given a Type IIa classification, which consists of less than 2 percent of all gem diamonds.  It's a flawless emerald-cut gemstone that takes its place as the centerpiece among 500 lots in Sotheby's auction of rare and fine jewelry next week. 

An unnamed person purchased the diamond from Harry Winston 60 year ago and the diamond has been preserved in that person's personal collection ever since. 

If it is sold for a high price, it will beat the current diamond price record set by the Wittelsbach-Graff diamond that went for $24.31 million in December 2008.

Still, skeptics say the price is rather ambitious.  Martin Rapaport from Diamond.Net, a leading source on diamond trading and pricing says the trade price "is probably around $750,000 a carat." That would make the sales price at less than what Sotheby's estimates.  "A good price is a million a carat," he adds, "I think only a consumer is going to pay that."

Other jewelry on sale this week are a ruby and diamond bangle, necklace, ear clips, and other vintage items from French and celebrity jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, which belonged to famous people like Cristina Onassis, the wife of Henry Ford II (grandson of the founder of the Ford Motor Company), and Abbas Hilmi II, the last viceroy of Egypt and Sudan.

Sothebys' auction of Magnificent Jewels will be held in Geneva, Switzerland on November 16. 

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