The most expensive coloured diamond ever sold at auction is the 59.60-carat Pink Star, which fetched $71.2 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong in April 2017. It remains the highest auction price for any gem. Behind it sit two stones that each made about $57.5 million in 2022: the Williamson Pink Star and the De Beers Cullinan Blue.
This list ranks ten coloured diamonds by what they actually sold for at auction or in a disclosed sale, as of October 2026. Pink and blue dominate. Yellow, green and orange stones can be spectacular, but none has come close to these prices.
| Rank | Item | Price (USD) | Date | Sold at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pink Star (59.60 ct, fancy vivid pink) | $71.2M | Apr 2017 | Sotheby’s Hong Kong |
| 2 | Williamson Pink Star (11.15 ct, vivid pink) | $57.7M | Oct 2022 | Sotheby’s Hong Kong |
| 3 | De Beers Cullinan Blue (15.10 ct, vivid blue) | $57.5M | Apr 2022 | Sotheby’s Hong Kong |
| 4 | Winston Pink Legacy (about 19 ct, fancy vivid pink) | $50.4M | Nov 2018 | Christie’s Geneva |
| 5 | Oppenheimer Blue (14.62 ct, vivid blue) | $50.6M | May 2016 | Christie’s Geneva |
| 6 | Blue Moon of Josephine (12.03 ct, vivid blue) | $48.4M | Nov 2015 | Sotheby’s Geneva |
| 7 | Graff Pink (24.78 ct, fancy intense pink) | $46M | Nov 2010 | Sotheby’s Geneva |
| 8 | Bleu Royal (17.61 ct, blue) | $43.8M | 2022 to 2023 | Christie’s Geneva |
| 9 | Fortune Pink (18.18 ct, vivid pink) | $28.8M | Nov 2022 | Christie’s Geneva |
| 10 | Sweet Josephine (16.08 ct, vivid pink) | $28.5M | Nov 2015 | Sotheby’s Geneva |
1. Pink Star: $71.2 million
The Pink Star is the largest vivid pink diamond the Gemological Institute of America has graded. It sold in April 2017 to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for 553 million Hong Kong dollars including fees, about $71.2 million. A buyer had bid about $83 million for it in Geneva in 2013, but that sale did not complete, which is why it came back to the block.
At nearly 60 carats, it sold for about $1.2 million per carat, the lowest rate in the top five. Weight carried the total here.
This is the Sotheby’s result including buyer’s premium.
2. Williamson Pink Star: $57.7 million
This internally flawless, cushion-cut pink went for 453.2 million Hong Kong dollars, more than double its roughly $21 million estimate. That works out to about $5.2 million per carat, the highest rate in this list.
It is a small stone with a huge price, which tells you where the market has moved: rarity of colour and quality over raw weight.
We rely on the reported hammer plus premium.
3. De Beers Cullinan Blue: $57.5 million
Cut from a rough stone found at the Cullinan mine in South Africa, this 15.10-carat vivid blue was the most expensive blue diamond ever sold at auction when Sotheby’s sold it in April 2022. The pre-sale estimate topped out around $48 million.
Roughly $3.8 million per carat. For comparison, the Hope Diamond, the best-known blue in the world, sits in a museum and is not for sale.
The price is the auction total including fees.
4. Winston Pink Legacy: about $50 million
Harry Winston bought it at Christie’s Geneva for 50.375 million Swiss francs, about $50 million, setting a per-carat record for a pink at the time, around $2.6 million. The jeweller renamed it the Winston Pink Legacy.
At that price per carat, it was the benchmark every pink after it was measured against.
We use the Swiss franc result converted at the time of sale.
5. Oppenheimer Blue: $50.6 million
Named for its former owner Philip Oppenheimer, this emerald-cut vivid blue was the largest of its grade to appear at auction. Two telephone bidders fought for it at Christie’s in May 2016, and it became the most expensive jewel of any kind sold at auction until the Pink Star sale in 2017.
The figure is the all-in price with premium, 56.83 million Swiss francs at the time.
6. Blue Moon of Josephine: $48.4 million
Found in South Africa in January 2014, this flawless cushion-cut blue sold for 43.2 million Swiss francs plus fees. It was the largest cushion-shaped fancy vivid blue to reach auction and set a price-per-carat record of about $4 million.
Our figure follows the Sotheby’s result with fees.
7. Graff Pink: $46 million
Once owned by Harry Winston, then sold to a private collector in the 1950s, this stone resurfaced at Sotheby’s Geneva in November 2010 and went for about $46 million, the most ever paid for a jewel at auction up to that point. Laurence Graff, the jeweller, was the buyer and gave it his name.
It is the oldest sale on the list.
The figure is the reported Sotheby’s total.
8. Bleu Royal: $43.8 million
A 17.61-carat pear-shaped blue that sold at Christie’s Geneva for $43.8 million. Reports differ on the exact date, so we give a range. At about $2.5 million per carat, it sits in the middle of the blue market.
We treat the number as a reported total including fees.
9. Fortune Pink: $28.8 million
A pear-shaped Brazilian pink, mined more than 15 years before its sale. It brought 28.4 million Swiss francs, about $28.8 million with fees, in November 2022. Pinks of this size rarely reach the market.
We use the converted figure in the auction results.
10. Sweet Josephine: $28.5 million
A 16.08-carat pink that sold in November 2015, a day before the Blue Moon of Josephine sold for more.
The price is the fee-inclusive result as reported.
Records set in 2025 and 2026
The headline of 2026 so far is the Ocean Dream. On 13 May 2026 Christie’s Geneva sold this 5.5-carat triangular fancy vivid blue-green, billed as the largest of its colour known, for about $17.3 million. That is a record for a blue-green at auction and more than double the roughly $8.5 million it fetched at Christie’s in 2014. It misses the top ten because nine stones sold above $28 million earlier.
A 10-carat purple-pink named Marie-Therese Pink, set by the jeweller JAR, also made headlines in 2026, reportedly selling for about $14 million against a high estimate of $5 million. We list it here as reported rather than ranked. Meanwhile, a six-carat vivid blue from the Cullinan mine failed to sell at Sotheby’s Geneva in May 2026, a reminder that not every blue sells.
Nothing in 2025 or 2026 has threatened the Pink Star record.
What drives these prices
- Colour first. A top pink or blue is far rarer than a top white diamond, so price per carat follows colour intensity.
- Small beats big. The Williamson Pink Star at 11 carats made more per carat than the 60-carat Pink Star by a factor of four.
- Pink and blue only. The list has no yellow, green, orange or red stone. Red diamonds are rarer, but few trade publicly, so they rarely set auction records.
- Hong Kong and Geneva. All ten sales happened in one of these two cities, where collectors from Asia and Europe bid against each other.
FAQ
What is the most expensive coloured diamond ever sold?
The 59.60-carat Pink Star, sold for $71.2 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in April 2017. It is also the most expensive gem ever sold at auction.
What is the most expensive blue diamond?
The 15.10-carat De Beers Cullinan Blue, sold for $57.5 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in April 2022.
What is the most recent big coloured diamond sale?
The Ocean Dream, a 5.5-carat vivid blue-green, sold for about $17.3 million at Christie’s Geneva in May 2026, a record for its colour.
Why are pink diamonds so expensive?
Natural pink diamonds are extremely rare, and most are under 10 carats. A large, vivid, flawless pink is one of the scarcest objects in the jewellery market.
What is the highest price per carat paid for a coloured diamond?
The Williamson Pink Star, at roughly $5.2 million per carat on our calculation from its $57.7 million sale.
Is the Hope Diamond on the list?
No. The Hope Diamond is held by a museum and has no sale price, so it cannot be ranked against real auction results.
How we put this list together
We ranked each entry by its verified sale price, using auction results and disclosed sales compiled in an internal valuation model. Prices are approximate and change over time.
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Last updated: October 2026.
