In brief
- The CTF Pink Star fetched 553,037,500 Hong Kong dollars, or 71.2 million dollars including buyer’s premium, at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on 4 April 2017.
- Equivalent to approximately 67 million euros at April 2017 exchange rates (editorial conversion).
- It remains the world auction record for any diamond, gemstone or jewel, according to Sotheby’s.
- A 59.60-carat oval pink diamond, Fancy Vivid Pink, Internally Flawless, cut over two years from a 132.5-carat rough diamond mined by De Beers in 1999.
- Buyer: Hong Kong jeweller Chow Tai Fook, who renamed it the CTF Pink Star.
No diamond, gemstone or jewel has ever been sold for more at auction than the Pink Star. Almost ten years after its sale in Hong Kong, the record still stands, and the history of this pink stone includes a rare chapter: an initial auction that went unpaid. Here is its exact price, where it comes from, and how it compares to other pink diamonds.
How much did the Pink Star cost?
On 4 April 2017, during Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite sale in Hong Kong, the diamond fetched 553,037,500 Hong Kong dollars, including buyer’s premium, or 71.2 million dollars according to the auction house. The price was more than double the previous record for a Fancy Vivid pink diamond, and the highest ever achieved in Asia for any work of art or object sold at auction, across all categories.
Broken down per carat, this equals 1,194,227 dollars, according to calculations published by Sotheby’s in 2022. In euros, the price equates to around 67 million at the April 2017 rate. The buyer was the jeweller Chow Tai Fook, who placed the winning bid by telephone and renamed the stone the CTF Pink Star, in tribute to the maison’s founder.
The Pink Star in figures
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Weight | 59.60 carats |
| Cut | oval mixed-cut |
| Colour and clarity (GIA) | Fancy Vivid Pink, Internally Flawless |
| Notable feature | largest Fancy Vivid Internally Flawless pink diamond ever graded by the GIA |
| Original rough | 132.5 carats, mined by De Beers in Africa in 1999 |
| Cutting and polishing | Diacore, over two years |
| Sale | Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2017 |
| Price | HK$553,037,500, or $71.2M (inc. buyer’s premium) |
| Price per carat | $1,194,227 |
| Buyer | Chow Tai Fook (Hong Kong) |
| Price source | Sotheby’s |
An initial sale left unpaid
The Pink Star had already triumphed once before, in Geneva in November 2013, for an amount reported at the time as a record (around 83 million dollars according to several accounts). However, the buyer failed to pay. Sotheby’s, which had guaranteed a minimum price to the seller, acquired the stone itself: its 2013 annual report listed it in inventory for approximately 72 million dollars, equivalent to the guaranteed price in Swiss francs, and specified that the house reserved all rights of recourse against the defaulting buyer.
Resold four years later in Hong Kong, the stone fetched slightly less than at the Geneva auction, but this time the transaction was completed, making the 2017 price the official benchmark in all rankings.
The pink diamonds following behind
Behind the Pink Star, Sotheby’s lists other exceptional pinks. The Williamson Pink Star, 11.15 carats, reached 453.2 million Hong Kong dollars (57.7 million dollars) in October 2022, establishing a per-carat record of 5.18 million dollars. The Graff Pink, 24.78 carats, sold for 45.44 million Swiss francs (46 million dollars) in Geneva in 2010, and the Eternal Pink fetched 34.8 million dollars in New York in 2023.
In our ranking of the world’s most expensive diamonds, the Pink Star ranks ahead of the Oppenheimer Blue (around 57.5 million dollars, Christie’s, 2016) and the Pink Legacy (50.4 million). Crown jewels such as the Hope, the Koh-i-Noor or the Cullinan remain outside the ranking, as they have never been offered for sale.
What is the Pink Star worth today?
The CTF Pink Star is still owned by Chow Tai Fook, which has announced neither a resale nor a revaluation. Its reference value therefore remains the 2017 hammer price. The pink diamond market has since seen the Williamson Pink Star break the per-carat record, proving that demand for the purest pinks remains strong, yet no single stone has approached the total price of the Pink Star. For other legendary gems, see the world’s most beautiful famous diamonds.
Prices verified and updated on 13 October 2026. Sources: Sotheby’s (4 April 2017 sale results, articles on pink diamonds and Williamson Pink Star press release, 2022), Sotheby’s 2013 Form 10-K annual report (SEC).
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