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An enormous diamond known as the Pink Star sold for more than $83m (£52m) at auction on Wednesday night, far surpassing its expected price.

Sotheby's said the sale of the vivid and flawless 59.60-carat pink diamond is the highest price ever paid for a gemstone at auction.

Prior to the sale to the successful bidder, representing an anonymous buyer, the diamond was estimated to fetch more than $60m. The bidding opened above $52m, and it closed with the playing of the Pink Panther films' theme music.

The plum-sized gem had been introduced prior to the bidding as "one of the most remarkable gems ever to appear at auction".

The diamond is graded as a Type IIa, a rarity for a pink diamond, and it took Steinmetz Diamonds two years to cut it to form from a 132.5-carat rough diamond.

It was first shown publicly in May 2003 as the Steinmetz Pink, then sold privately for the first time in 2007 when it was renamed the Pink Star.

The sale in Geneva came a day after the largest fancy vivid orange diamond ever sold at auction went for $35.5m at a Christie's auction.

The auctions at Geneva's lakeside hotels draw well-heeled buyers from around the world seeking expensive jewels, artworks, wines and watches.
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World's largest diamond - the Pink Star - sells for record £52m at auction

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An enormous diamond known as the Pink Star sold for more than $83m (£52m) at auction on Wednesday night, far surpassing its expected price. Sotheby's said the sale of the vivid and flawless 59.60-carat pink diamond is the highest price ever paid for a gemstone at auction.

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Audio + gap fill + extras

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Try the online quiz, reading, listening, and activities on grammar, spelling and vocabulary for this lesson on Diamonds. Click on the links above or see the activities below this article:

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There's a famous song that says "Diamonds are a girl's best friend". Is that true? Do all women like diamonds? They are certainly very beautiful, especially when you see them sparkling. But really, only rich people can afford diamonds. When I bought my wife's wedding ring, we could only afford a smallish diamond. There were lots of beautiful rings in the store with huge diamonds but they all cost an arm and a leg. One day I'll buy her a big diamond as a surprise. Nowadays you have to worry where diamonds come from. Many countries sell diamonds to buy guns and tanks. These are called blood diamonds. If you buy a diamond, make sure it has a certificate so you know which country it came from.

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Try the online quiz, reading, listening, and activities on grammar, spelling and vocabulary for this lesson on Diamonds. Click on the links above or see the activities below this article: Your browser does not support this audio player. There's a famous song that says "Diamonds are a girl's best friend".

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A flawless 59.6-carat pink diamond will be auctioned in the Swiss city of Geneva at a record asking price of $60m (£38m), Sotheby's auction house says.

It says the oval-cut stone - the "Pink Star" - will become the most valuable diamond ever to be offered at auction.

This 59.60 carat stone is simply off any scale
David Bennett, Sotheby's chairman, Europe & Middle East

Sotheby's David Bennett says the diamond belongs in "the ranks of the earth's greatest natural treasures".

It is over twice the size of the 24.78-carat "Graff Pink" diamond that set the world auction record for $46.2m.

The gem, which was mined by De Beers in Africa in 1999, has received the highest possible colour and clarity rating from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).

It weighed 132.5 carats in the rough, and was cut and polished over a period of two years by Steinmetz Diamonds, the New York-based auction house said in a statement on Wednesday.

"I have had the privilege of examining some of the greatest gemstones in the world over the past 35 years, and I can say, without hesitation, that the Pink Star diamond is of immense importance," said Mr Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewellery division in Europe and the Middle East.

He said it was very rare to have vivid pink diamonds weighing only five carats, "so this 59.6-carat stone is simply off any scale".

The diamond, which was previously known as the "Steinmetz Pink", was sold privately in 2007 but neither the price nor the owner was disclosed.

The auction is scheduled to take place on 13 November.

Sotheby's will also auction a white diamond and a blue diamond, valued at more than $28m and $19m respectively, in Hong Kong in October.

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A flawless 59.6-carat pink diamond will be auctioned in the Swiss city of Geneva at a record asking price of $60m (£38m), Sotheby's auction house says. It says the oval-cut stone - the "Pink Star" - will become the most valuable diamond ever to be offered at auction.