FLOAT 100 · Jewelry · No. 15
The Sakura Diamond
Named for the cherry blossom and sold in Hong Kong as spring turned to summer, a flawless 15.81-carat purple-pink diamond became the most expensive stone of its color ever auctioned.
- Year
- sold 2021
- By price in jewelry
- 16 of 100
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Create a free account- Stone
- 15.81-carat Fancy Vivid purple-pink diamond, Internally Flawless, Type IIa
- Name
- 'Sakura,' the Japanese word for cherry blossom
- Setting
- A plain ring, described as platinum in one report and platinum and gold in another
- Sold
- May 23, 2021, at auction in Hong Kong, to a telephone bidder
- Price
- Just over HK$226 million, about $29.3 million, roughly $1.9 million per carat
- Presale estimate
- HK$195 million to HK$300 million ($25 million to $38 million)
- Records
- Largest Fancy Vivid purple-pink diamond offered at auction; highest auction price for a purple-pink diamond
- Record it broke
- The 14.83-carat Spirit of the Rose, sold in Geneva in November 2020 for about $26.6 million
The color of a cherry blossom
The Sakura is a 15.81-carat diamond graded Fancy Vivid purple-pink and Internally Flawless. Its main color is pink, with a secondary note of purple. The selling house named it after the Japanese word for cherry blossom, the flower that blooms for only a short time at the start of spring, and unveiled it in March 2021 with the season in mind.
Before the sale, the auction house's jewelry chair, Vickie Sek, said the stone was 'exactly' the shade of cherry blossom. It is set in a simple ring; CNN described the ring as platinum, while another report described it as platinum and gold.
The published sources do not say where the diamond was mined, who cut it, or who consigned it. The seller and the buyer were not named.
Why the grade matters
Every part of the Sakura's description points to scarcity. According to the auction house, fewer than 10% of pink diamonds weigh more than one-fifth of a carat, and GIA figures it cited say only 4% of pink diamonds have color deep enough to be graded Fancy Vivid, the top tier. At 15.81 carats, the house said, it was the largest Fancy Vivid purple-pink diamond ever offered at auction.
Its clarity is just as unusual. Pink color in diamonds comes from distortion in the crystal lattice, and Sek said pink diamonds usually contain 'a lot of graining,' so it is 'very rare' for one to be graded Internally Flawless, meaning any blemishes are visible only under close magnification.
The Sakura is also a Type IIa diamond, a chemically pure group that the house said makes up less than 2% of all gem diamonds. Sek said there is no rule on whether pure pinks or purple-pinks are rarer, though pure pinks have brought even larger sums at auction.
Two bidders on the phone
The auction house announced the Sakura on March 30, 2021, as a highlight of its spring jewelry sale in Hong Kong, with an estimate of HK$195 million to HK$300 million ($25 million to $38 million). It went on private view by appointment in Shanghai (April 12-13), Beijing (April 16-17), Taipei (May 1-2) and Hong Kong (May 6-8).
The sale took place on May 23 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Bidding opened at HK$170 million, and two bidders pushed it to just over HK$226 million (one report gives HK$226.275 million), or $29.29 million. The winner bid by telephone. The price was about $1.9 million per carat, below the top estimate but inside the range.
The house called it 'an important chapter in jewelery auction history.' The full sale totaled $76.8 million, which the house said was its highest total for that category in four years. The second-highest lot was another pink, a 4.19-carat Fancy Vivid heart-shaped diamond nicknamed the Sweet Heart, which sold for about $6.5 million.
Beating the Spirit of the Rose
The record the Sakura broke was only six months old. On November 11, 2020, a 14.83-carat Fancy Vivid purple-pink, Internally Flawless oval called the Spirit of the Rose had sold at auction in Geneva for 24.4 million Swiss francs, about $26.6 million, the most ever paid for a purple-pink diamond at that point.
That stone was cut from a 27.85-carat rough diamond found in 2017 in Sakha, in northeast Russia, which was believed to be the largest pink crystal ever found in the country. It took a year to cut and polish, and its name came from the 1911 ballet Le Spectre de la rose, which one report connects to Vaslav Nijinsky's last performance on stage.
The Sakura was larger by about a carat and sold for about $2.7 million more. One report gave the Spirit of the Rose's weight as 14.8 carats and its rough as 27.8 carats; CNN gave 14.83 and 27.85.
Where it stands
Pink diamonds have dominated the top of the auction market. In 2017 the 59.60-carat Pink Star sold for $71.2 million in Hong Kong, still the most expensive polished diamond of any color sold at auction when the Sakura was sold, and a nonprofit research group found pink diamond prices grew 116% between 2010 and 2019.
Within that market, the Sakura holds a specific place: the largest Fancy Vivid purple-pink ever brought to auction and, as of its sale, the most expensive purple-pink diamond sold at auction. No later public sale of the stone was found in the sources for this page.
The numbers
- Carat weight
- 15.81 carats
- Color and clarity
- Fancy Vivid purple-pink, Internally Flawless
- Diamond type
- Type IIa
- Origin mine
- Not disclosed in published reports
- Cutter
- Not disclosed in published reports
Timeline
The 59.60-carat Pink Star sells in Hong Kong for $71.2 million, setting the auction record for any polished diamond.
A 27.85-carat pink rough diamond is found in Sakha, Russia; it will become the Spirit of the Rose.
The 14.83-carat Spirit of the Rose sells in Geneva for about $26.6 million, a record for a purple-pink diamond.
The Sakura is announced as a highlight of a Hong Kong jewelry sale, estimated at HK$195 million to HK$300 million.
Private viewings begin in Shanghai, followed by Beijing on April 16.
The stone is shown in Taipei.
The Hong Kong preview opens, running through May 8.
The Sakura sells in Hong Kong for just over HK$226 million (about $29.3 million) to a telephone bidder, a record for a purple-pink diamond.
Trade coverage reports the price at about $1.9 million per carat and the sale total at $76.8 million.
The world in 2021
Fighting between Israel and Gaza escalates; a ceasefire takes effect on May 21 after nearly 250 deaths.
India's COVID-19 death toll passes 250,000.
China lands its Zhurong rover on Mars, only the second country to land a rover there.
Discovery agrees to buy WarnerMedia from AT&T for $43 billion.
Italy's Måneskin wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, held after the 2020 contest was canceled.
On the day of the Hong Kong sale, Belarusian authorities force Ryanair Flight 4978 to land to detain journalist Roman Protasevich.
El Salvador's legislature makes Bitcoin legal tender, the first country to do so.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| May 23, 2021 | $29,290,000 | Sold at auctionSold at auction in Hong Kong to a telephone bidder for just over HK$226 million (one report gives HK$226.275 million). About $1.9 million per carat. |
A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.
By reference price, The Sakura Diamond is number 16 of 100 in the jewelry entries of the FLOAT 100. 44 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (15 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Fewer than 10% of pink diamonds weigh more than one-fifth of a carat; the Sakura weighs 15.81.
- Only about 4% of pink diamonds are graded Fancy Vivid, according to GIA figures the auction house cited.
- The bidding opened at HK$170 million and two bidders pushed it up by more than HK$56 million.
- The record it broke had stood for only about six months.
- The previous record holder, the Spirit of the Rose, was named after the 1911 ballet Le Spectre de la rose.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 1, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026