LONDON – Russia’s Alrosa has unearthed a pink diamond that the gem giant says could be the most expensive it has ever found.
Alrosa, which produces more stones than anyone else, found the 27.85 ct pink gem at its alluvial mines in Russia’s Far East. The company said the biggest pink diamond it had previously found was less than 4 ct in weight.
The gem-quality stone has very few flaws and could be Alrosa’s most expensive polished diamond if it decides to cut the stone, it said in a statement Thursday.
Colored diamonds, which sell for many times more than similar-sized white stones, have been setting records recently. Christie’s sold the 14.62 ct 'Oppenheimer Blue' for $58-million last year, while Sotheby’s auctioned the 59.6 ct 'Pink Star' for $71-million in April, a record auction price for any gem. In terms of rough, or uncut, diamonds, Petra Diamonds sold a 32.33 ct pink diamond for $15-million last year.
Alrosa is currently examining to decide on whether to sell it as a rough diamond, or cut and polish it internally.
The producer, which has traditionally focused on rough-diamond mining, plans to increase revenues from its polishing unit, CEO Sergey Ivanov said in August. At the time, Alrosa showed the most-expensive diamond ever polished in Russia as a part of a collection.