A 1.21-carat fancy orangy-red diamond estimated to earn between $100,000 and $150,000 sold for nearly $1.8 million at Heritage Auctions
The most expensive stone ever sold by Heritage at 12X presale estimate at almost $1.5 million per carat.
Photo Courtesy: Heritage Auctions
As most know, red diamonds are the rarest color of colored diamonds. We are not sure why this stone had just a low reserve. Seems like we might have seen this stone before and it didn't sell. Also, at Imperfect two (I2), it has a really nasty inclusion in the table, However, this is quite common in saturated diamonds-almost like there is a link between strong color and inclusions.
Finally, this stone is a rare round shape, Most colored diamonds are cut in fancy shapes to get the best color. Rounds tend to disperse the main color because of the brilliancy of a round shape. One of our favorite colored stone combinations is orange red- the same color combination as the 1.21 diamond. Purists could argue pure red would be better, but these stones are so rare it's difficult to criticize this color.
Below is the GIA Grading document
