A pair of diamond earrings sell for $57.4 million at auction, setting record
A pair of fancy colored diamond earrings sold for a whopping $57.4 million at auction Tuesday, setting a new record.
The pear-shaped earrings were being auctioned separately by Sotheby's (BID), however, they were sold to a single, anonymous buyer.
The buyer snatched up "The Apollo Blue" earring for $42.1 million, and "The Artemis Pink" diamond for $15.3 million. Combined, the pair set a record for the most expensive earrings ever sold at auction.
The prior record was held by the Miroir de l'Amour earrings sold by Christie's last year for $17.6 million.
The Apollo stone is a 14.54-carat blue diamond, while the nearly identical Artemis stone is a 16-carat pink diamond.
The auction house had estimated that the pink diamond would sell for between $12.5 million and $18 million, while the blue stone would go for between $38 million and $50 million.
Sotheby's said demand for colored diamonds remains strong. This spring the auction house broke the world record for the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction with the $71.2 million sale of the "Pink Star" diamond .
"In the last five to 10 years, the price seems to be escalating rapidly. And we just sold this world record stone, and that was a pink diamond," said David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby's International Jewellery division, ahead of the auction. "Certainly people who own important colored diamonds are aware that the market is strong."
For more record-breaking rocks, check out CNBC's "Secret Lives of the Super Rich."
—CNBC's Louise Connelly contributed to this report.
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