GENEVA — Sotheby's on Wednesday showed off a 59.6-carat pink diamond that will be auctioned in the Swiss city of Geneva in November at a record asking price of $60 million (49 million euros).



"The Pink Star," an internally flawless oval-cut vivid pink diamond, will become the most valuable diamond ever to be offered at auction, Sotheby's said. "I have had the privilege of examining some of the greatest gemstones in the world over the past 35 years, and I can say, without hesitation, that 'The Pink Star' diamond is of immense importance," David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewellery division in Europe and the Middle East, said in a statement.



"It is difficult to exaggerate the rarity of vivid pink diamonds weighing only five carats, so this 59.60 carat stone is simply off any scale," he said, inisisting it belonged in "the ranks of the earth's greatest natural treasures." — AFP