The Sweet Josephine is a pink
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
that was sold at a
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
auction in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
in November 2015 for $28.5 million, a record price for a jewel of its kind and one that exceeded its estimated price of $23-28 million.
The diamond, which had been owned by an American family for 15 years prior to its 2015 sale, is the largest
cushion-shaped diamond classified by the
Gemological Institute of America
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is a nonprofit institute based in Carlsbad, California. It is dedicated to research and education in the field of gemology and the jewelry arts. Founded in 1931, GIA's mission is to protect buyers and ...
as "
fancy vivid" ever to be sold at auction, regardless of color, and it is one of only three "fancy" pink diamonds weighing more than 10 carats to be sold in the previous 250 years.
[
The diamond was sold to Hong Kong billionaire ]Joseph Lau
Joseph Lau Luen-hung (; born 21 July 1951) is a Hong Kong billionaire. Lau is the former chairman of property developer Chinese Estates. He is an avid art and wine collector. His fortune is estimated by ''Forbes'' at $13.3 billion as of ...
, a convicted felon and fugitive, who named it the "Sweet Josephine" diamond for his seven-year-old daughter, Josephine.Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
that he then named, again for his daughter, the Blue Moon of Josephine Diamond
The Blue Moon of Josephine is a blue diamond, described as flawless by experts, that was discovered in South Africa in January 2014 and was sold at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva in November 2015 at a record-setting price of $48.4 million (43.2 ...
.[
]
See also
* List of diamonds
Diamond (gemstone), Diamonds become famous typically for some combination of their size, color and quality. Diamonds occur naturally in many different colors, so the largest diamond of a particular color may not be large in absolute terms, but it ...
References
{{Reflist
Diamonds originating in South Africa
Pink diamonds
Individual diamonds