Spirit of the Rose: Pink diamond cut in Moscow set to become Russia’s most expensive gem

An oval, 14.83-carat pink gem cut in Moscow has been valued by the Gemological Institute of America at a minimum of $60 million (€54 million), one of the highest prices ever fetched by a diamond.

The “fancy, vivid purple-pink” stone was named “Spirit of the Rose” (“Le Spectre de la Rose”) as a tribute to a legendary Russian ballet miniature. It was cut in Moscow by Alrosa PJSC from “Nijinsky,” a rare 27.85 carat clear pink rough diamond mined in 2017 from the Ebelyakh deposit in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in Russia’s northeast.

The stone was the largest pink crystal ever discovered in Russia and had impeccable characteristics, with its discovery immediately making headlines across the globe. The preparation and cutting process was performed at the Diamonds of Alrosa cutting factory in Moscow and took a full year, as the crystal’s size, color and clarity required special care and high-level cutting skills to avoid cleavage.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) graded the diamond as "fancy vivid purple-pink with excellent clarity, excellent polish and very good symmetry." The lab also stated that the stone is the biggest fancy vivid purple-pink diamond ever certified by them.

“A large fancy vivid purple pink, internally flawless, with perfect visual characteristics such as this one, enters the market literally, once in a generation… Its beauty overcomes the important pink diamonds sold at auction in the last decade and its retail price should exceed €60 million,” said Eden Rachminov, a board member of the Fancy Color Research Foundation, and one of the globe’s most respected experts on colored diamonds. 

Colored diamonds are formed by tinges of chemical elements like boron or nitrogen, and are the most expensive and rare gems of their kind. According to Alrosa spokeswoman Evgeniya Kozenko, the Spirit of the Rose will be the most expensive stone ever polished in Russia. The company has not yet decided how it will sell the gem, via auction or otherwise, but set the sale date for November this year.

Previously, Sotheby’s Auction House set the record for a gem price in 2017, selling the 59.6-carat Pink Star diamond for $71 million (€64 million). The Oppenheimer Blue diamond sold by Christie’s Auction House a year earlier ranks second at $58 million (€52 million). 

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