The 10 Most Expensive Diamonds Ever Sold at Auction
From a $71 million pink to natural blues that seem impossible, these are the rarest and most expensive diamonds the auction world has ever seen.
The CTF Pink Star Diamond (Courtesy of Sotheby’s Auction House)
In all my years writing about and working with natural diamonds, nothing quite captures the imagination like watching one of the most expensive diamonds in the world cross the auction block. These are not just historic diamonds. They represent the absolute summit of rarity and beauty that the natural world can produce. Every diamond on this list is an extraordinary freak of geological chance, formed over a billion or more years under conditions so specific that nothing else like it may ever surface again.
When you combine that scarcity with vivid color, exceptional clarity, and significant size, you get the kind of competition that sends prices into the tens of millions. Pink and blue diamonds dominate this list for good reason, and the numbers tell a story about just how much collectors are willing to pay for the rarest things on Earth.
Here are the 10 most expensive diamonds ever sold at auction, from legendary pink and blue diamonds to once-in-a-generation natural treasures that shattered world records.
Meet the Expert
- Grant Mobley is the Jewelry & Watch Editor of Only Natural Diamonds.
- He is a GIA Diamonds Graduate.
- He has over 17 years of jewelry industry experience, starting with growing up in his family’s retail jewelry stores.
1. The CTF Pink Star Diamond — $71.2 Million
The undisputed king of them all. The CTF Pink Star is a 59.60-carat oval-shaped Fancy Vivid Pink diamond with internally flawless clarity. It continues to top every list of the most expensive diamonds thanks to its extraordinary combination of size, color, and rarity. De Beers found the original 132.5-carat rough in 1999, and Diacore spent two years cutting and polishing it into the largest internally flawless Fancy Vivid Pink the GIA has ever graded. It sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in April 2017 for a staggering $71.2 million to the Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fook, which renamed it after the company’s late founder. Nothing has come close since.
2. The Williamson Pink Star Diamond— $57.7 Million
This 11.15-carat cushion-shaped Fancy Vivid Pink with internally flawless clarity came from the Williamson mine in Tanzania, the same source that produced the pink diamond gifted to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947. Diacore cut it from a 32-carat rough. When it sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October 2022 for $57.7 million, it set a world record price per carat for any diamond or gemstone at roughly $5.2 million per carat, nearly double the previous record. A private collector from Boca Raton, Florida, secured the winning bid, placing the stone firmly among the most expensive diamonds ever sold at auction.
3. The De Beers Blue Diamond— $57.5 Million
A 15.10-carat Fancy Vivid Blue step-cut diamond with internally flawless clarity, the De Beers Blue is a Type IIb stone. This rare category owes its color to boron and can actually conduct electricity. It came from the Cullinan mine in South Africa, the only mine on Earth with meaningful blue diamond production. It sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in April 2022 for approximately $57.5 million, securing its place among the most expensive diamonds ever sold and making it one of the most valuable blue diamonds ever to come to market.
4. The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond— $57.5 Million
For nearly a year, this was the record holder for any diamond at auction. The Oppenheimer Blue is a 14.62-carat emerald-cut Fancy Vivid Blue diamond with VS1 clarity, named after Sir Philip Oppenheimer, whose family controlled De Beers for generations. When Christie’s Geneva sold it in May 2016 for $57.5 million, it was the largest Fancy Vivid Blue ever offered at auction and the most expensive jewel ever sold at the time. Its provenance and pedigree make it one of the most storied blue diamonds in existence.
5. The Winston Pink Legacy Diamond— $50.6 Million
This 18.96-carat rectangular-step-cut Fancy Vivid Pink diamond is remarkable for its size and saturation, a color intensity seen in almost no diamonds. The Oppenheimer family once owned it; it was found in South Africa around 1918, and has remained in its original cut since 1920. When Christie’s Geneva sold it in November 2018 for $50.6 million, Harry Winston purchased it and renamed it the Winston Pink Legacy. Its record-breaking sale cemented its place among the most expensive diamonds ever sold, while achieving a price of about $2.7 million per carat—a record for a pink diamond at the time.
6. The Blue Moon of Josephine Diamond — $48.5 Million
A 12.03-carat cushion-shaped Fancy Vivid Blue diamond with internally flawless clarity, cut from a 29.6-carat rough discovered at the Cullinan mine in 2014. It took six months to cut and polish. When it sold at Sotheby’s Geneva in November 2015 for $48.5 million, it set a per-carat record that stood for years. Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau bought it for his young daughter and renamed it the Blue Moon of Josephine, adding another legendary stone to the ranks of the most expensive diamonds ever sold after purchasing a vivid pink diamond he named Sweet Josephine just one day earlier.
7. The Graff Pink Diamond — $46.2 Million
A 24.78-carat, emerald cut, Fancy Intense Pink diamond, Type IIa, once owned by legendary American jeweler Harry Winston. The chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry division called it one of the most desirable diamonds he had ever seen. When Sotheby’s Geneva sold it in November 2010 for $46.2 million, it set the record at the time for the highest price ever paid for a jewel at auction. Laurence Graff purchased it, slightly recut it to achieve internal flawless clarity, and renamed it the Graff Pink. It now weighs 23.88 carats.
8. The Bleu Royal Diamond — $44 Million
A 17.61-carat pear-shaped Fancy Vivid Blue diamond with internally flawless clarity, the Bleu Royal is the largest internally flawless Fancy Vivid Blue ever offered at auction. One remarkable detail is that its rough crystal was so richly colored that cutters used a classic brilliant faceting style, with no modifications needed to enhance the hue. It had been in a single private collection for around 40 to 50 years before Christie’s Geneva sold it in November 2023 for nearly $44 million to an anonymous collector, securing its place among the most expensive diamonds ever sold while becoming the most expensive jewel sold anywhere that year.
9. The Princie Diamond — $39.3 Million
A 34.65-carat cushion-cut Fancy Intense Pink diamond with extraordinary Golconda provenance dating back more than three centuries. Discovered in India’s legendary Golconda mines, it once belonged to the royal family of Hyderabad. Van Cleef & Arpels bought it at Sotheby’s in 1960 and named it the Princie after the young Prince of Baroda. It remains untouched since cutters transformed the rough over 300 years ago. When Christie’s New York sold it again in April 2013 for $39.3 million, it became the most expensive diamond the auction house had sold to date. The Qatari royal family is believed to hold it today.
10. The Orange Diamond — $35.5 Million
Rounding out the list is The Orange, a 14.82-carat pear-shaped Fancy Vivid Orange diamond with VS1 clarity. Pure orange diamonds, without modifying hues, are exceptionally rare, making this stone a standout among collectors who prize unusual hues. When Christie’s Geneva sold it in November 2013 for $35.5 million, it set a world record for an orange diamond and remains the largest Fancy Vivid Orange ever offered at auction. It is a reminder that the rarest colors, even beyond pink and blue, command extraordinary attention.
