Story highlights

A rare 15.38 carat pink diamond set a new, $31.6 million auction record at Sotheby's on Tuesday

It eclipsed the previous $28.5 million record set by a 16.08 carat equivalent pink diamond sold in November 2015

The world's most expensive diamond remains the $48.4 million, 12.03 carat "Blue Moon of Josephine"

CNN  — 

An extremely rare 15.38 carat pear-shaped pink diamond – called the ‘Unique Pink’ – sold for $31.6 million at Sotheby’s in Geneva on Tuesday, making it the most expensive fancy vivid pink diamond ever to sell at auction.

The spectacular diamond, set in a simple ring, sold to an Asian private buyer who bid for the rare gem over the telephone. A Sotheby’s spokesperson said they were not yet able to reveal the buyer’s identity.

“It is difficult to imagine a diamond that better illustrates the term vivid pink than this outstanding stone…the color is simply astonishing,” David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewellery, said in a statement announcing the sale.

Trace the journey of one of the world’s rarest and largest diamonds

Sparkling record breakers

The most expensive pink diamond ever to sell at auction remains the 24.78 carat ‘Graff Pink,’ which sold for $46.2 million at Sotheby’s in November 2010.

However, yesterday’s ‘Unique Pink’ sale eclipsed the previous record for a fancy vivid pink diamond, set by the ‘Sweet Josephine’ at a Christie’s auction in November 2015.

That 16.08 carat diamond sold for $28.5 million to Hong Kong billionaire, Joseph Lau, who purchased it for his then 7-year-old daughter, Josephine.

Billionaire buys world’s most expensive diamond for his 7-year-old

As colorful as these diamonds may be, they pale in comparison to the diamond Lau purchased for his daughter at a Sotheby’s auction the very next day.

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02:16 - Source: CNN

That 12.03 carat blue sparkler, dubbed the “Blue Moon of Josephine”, sold for an eye-watering $48.4 million, making it the world’s most expensive diamond ever.

But that record may soon be challenged, with the 14.62 carat ‘Oppenheimer Blue’ – the world’s largest vivid blue diamond ever to be sold at auction – going under the hammer at a Christie’s auction in Geneva on Wednesday night.