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Diamond expected to set auction record

It has its price... Sotheby's

A rare pink diamond is expected to set a world record price for a jewel sold at auction when it goes under the hammer in Switzerland next week.

Sotheby’s auction house estimates the “fancy intense pink” 24.78 carat gem will fetch $27-38 million (SFr26-37 million) at its Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva on Tuesday.

The previous record was set by rival auctioneers Christie’s when they sold the blue 35.56-carat Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond for $24.3 million in 2008.

The head of Sotheby’s jewellery division, David Bennett, said the pink diamond had been “very, very well viewed” by potential buyers ahead of the sale.

It was last sold by New York jeweller Harry Winston and has a classic emerald cut with gently rounded corners.

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