Pink diamond sells for more than $50M at auction, setting world record

Christie's sold the "Pink Legacy" diamond at auction on Tuesday for more than 50 million US dollars including fees, saying it's a new world record price per carat for a pink diamond.

Christie's said that renowned jeweler Harry Winston was the buyer.

The auction house had expected to fetch 30 million to 50 million US dollars for the nearly 19-carat, rectangular-cut stone, the largest fancy vivid pink diamond that it has ever put under the hammer.

It was the standout offering at Christie's autumn jewelry auction in Geneva.

The standing-room only ballroom broke into applause after the auctioneer struck down a hammer price of 44.5 million US dollars.

That figure excludes the standard "buyer's premium" and other fees.

All told, the diamond went for $50.375 million, including the fees.

The stone once belonged to the Oppenheimer diamond family, and Christie's says it's among the most chemically pure gems.

Francois Curiel, Christie's chairman for Europe, described the it as "the Leonardo da Vinci of the diamonds".