HONG KONG: An extremely rare, vivid purple-pink diamond mined in Russia is expected to fetch up to $38 million when it goes under the hammer on Nov. 11, the auction house Sotheby’s said on Monday.
The oval gem, which is named after a Russian ballet ‘The Spirit of the Rose’, is the largest of its kind to be offered at auction. The trend for colored stones has increased as an asset class by the super-rich in recent years.
Mined by Russian diamond producer Alrosa, the 14.83-carat diamond was cut from the largest pink crystal ever found in Russia, Sotheby’s said.
“The occurrence of pink diamonds in nature is extremely rare in any size. Only one percent of all pink diamonds are larger than 10-carats,” said Gary Schuler, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry division.
Naturally colored diamonds occur because they possess a particular lattice structure that refracts light to produce colored, rather than white, stones.
Pink diamonds are both rare and aesthetically highly prized by collectors, analysts say.
The gem is being shown in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei before being auctioned in Geneva on Nov. 11.
Super rare, purple-pink diamond up for auction, could fetch $38 million
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Super rare, purple-pink diamond up for auction, could fetch $38 million
- The oval gem is named after a Russian ballet ‘The Spirit of the Rose’
- Pink diamonds are both rare and aesthetically highly prized by collectors
NASA plans ISS medical evacuation for Jan. 14
- Space station set to be decommissioned after 2030
- NASA and SpaceX target undocking Crew-11 from the International Space Station no earlier than 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 14, with splashdown off California targeted for early Jan. 15 depending on weather and recovery conditions
WASHINGTON: NASA crew members aboard the International Space Station could return to Earth as soon as Thursday, the US space agency said, after a medical emergency prompted the crew to return from their mission early.
“NASA and SpaceX target undocking Crew-11 from the International Space Station no earlier than 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 14, with splashdown off California targeted for early Jan. 15 depending on weather and recovery conditions,” the agency said in a post on X.
Details of the medical evacuation, the first in ISS history, were not provided by officials, though they said it did not result from any kind of injury onboard and that the unidentified crew member is stable and not in need of an emergency evacuation.
The four astronauts on Nasa-SpaceX Crew 11 have been on their mission since Aug. 1. These expeditions generally last around six months, and the crew was already due to return to Earth in the coming weeks.
American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, as well as Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov, would be returning, while American Chris Williams will stay onboard the international body to maintain a US presence.
Officials indicated it was possible the next US mission could depart to the ISS earlier than scheduled, but did not provide specifics.
Continuously inhabited since 2000, the ISS functions as a testbed for research that supports deeper space exploration — including eventual missions to Mars.
The ISS is set to be decommissioned after 2030, with its orbit gradually lowered until it breaks up in the atmosphere over a remote part of the Pacific Ocean called Point Nemo, a spacecraft graveyard.
