The Top Ten Most Famous And Fabulous Pink Diamonds Of All Time

Pink.... A color normally associated with little girls and cheesy 90's pop-music – but also with pretty jaw-dropping diamonds (especially if you see the price that some of these sold for!). Here is a list of the "Ten Most Famous (and FABULOUS!) Pink Diamonds". Because sometimes we all need a little distraction from work.....

1. Martian Pink

This astronomical looking stone was named by American jeweler Ronald Winston in 1976. It was sold at an auction in May 2012 for US $17 million by an anonymous bidder at Christie’s Hong Kong. According to Christie's, it was "the largest round fancy intense pink diamond to ever go under the hammer", and is one of the largest round fancy intense pink diamonds in the world. Few color diamonds are round because it is the shape that captures their color the least – most color diamonds are cut into fancy shapes.

2. The Condé - This just SOUNDS expensive!

This pear- shaped, 9.01 carat, light pink Condé diamond is also known as the Condé Pink, the Condé Diamond, or Le Grand Condé. It was bought by agents of Louis XIII in 1643 after which it is believed to have been presented by the King to Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (also known as the Grand Condé), in appreciation of his military prowess. It is believed the stone emanates from India. The diamond was bequeathed to the French government in 1892 and sits in the Museé de Condé in Chantilly, France till this very day. *On October 11th, 1926, the diamond was stolen from the museum but later found and returned. (I wonder how many limbs the jewel thieve lost for his punishment??)

3. The Pink Orchid

This stunning marquise-cut, 22.84 carat, purplish-pink, Internally Flawless (IF) clarity Pink Orchid diamond is owned by Graff Diamonds of London. It is believed that the diamond was cut at the Graff workshop and then set. The combination of the rarity of the purplish-pink color and the relatively large size of the stone make the Pink Orchid a very special stone indeed. The marquise-cut of the stone in a ring setting are said to have the effect of making the wearer’s fingers long and slender.....that is of course if the wearer doesn't stuff her face with fried chicken all day (I KNOW...it's just sooooo good!!!!!)

4. The Hortensia (OLE!)

The Hortensia diamond was added to the Crown Jewels of France by King Louis XIV and named after Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland. The French Crown Jewels were sold in 1887; however the Hortensia was excluded from sale due to its historic and artistic value. The Hortensia is a diamond of Indian origin - similar to curry and bollywood films . In 1792, during the French Revolution, part of the French Crown Jewels were stolen from the Garde Meuble (The Public Treasury). Among the jewels stolen was the Hortensia. It was recovered in 1793, when one of the thieves who had confessed to the crime disclosed the whereabouts of some of the hidden diamonds prior to his execution (OFF WITH HIS HEAD!).

5. Nur-Ul-Ain (pronounced "nur" - "ul" - "ain")

This 60 carat (12 g) pink diamond is originally from India but now part of the Imperial Crown Jewels collection. The oval brilliant-cut, 60 carat, pale pink Nur-Ul-Ain (‘Light of the Eye’) diamond is the centerpiece of a royal tiara designed by Harry Winston for the wedding of the Empress Farah to the last Shah of Iran in 1958. The diamond is set in platinum, and is surrounded by pink, yellow, and colorless diamonds with a row of colorless baguette diamonds in tapering sizes lining the base of the tiara. The tiara contains 324 diamonds in total. The Nur-ul-Ain and the Darya-i-Nur are believed to have been cut from the same rare, pale pink, enormous, 400-carat diamond, referred to as "Diamanta Grande Table" (the Great Table Diamond) by Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the 17th century French traveler and jeweler, who had seen it at Golconda in South India in 1642.

6. The Darya-i-Nur

The LARGEST pink diamond in the world, weighing approximately 186 carats (DAMN! you can feed a hell of a lot of rabbits with those!) was originally from India but is now part of Iran's Imperial Crown Jewels collection. The table-cut, pale pink Darya-i-Nur ("Ocean of Light") diamond is considered to be the most celebrated diamond in the Iranian collection and one of the oldest known to man. It was plundered from the Mogul Emperor of India by the Persians in 1739. In 1797, it was inherited by Fath Ali Shah who had his name engraved on one side of the diamond (must have been really small writing because that's not a short name my friend!). The Darya-i-Nur is mounted on a frame set with 457 smaller diamonds and 4 rubies, surmounted by the lion and sun symbols -signifying the Aryan origins of the Iranian people.

7. The Graff Pink

The second most expensive jewel ever sold at auction, previously owned by Harry Winston and an unnamed private collector and bought by Laurence Graff in 2010 for a measly $46million (HA! pocket change!). The stone weighed 24.78 carats and was categorized as fancy intense pink, which is an extremely high color rating for pink diamonds. The diamond was evaluated as type IIa and potentially flawless. However, even these impressive characteristics were not enough for Mr. Graff, a man with infamously high standards. Against the wishes of the masses (because of the risk involved), he sent it back to the polishing wheel in hopes of improving the stone. After only removing a few points, his risks paid off. The outcome was a 23.88 carat Fancy Vivid Pink IF (internally flawless) diamond - placing the Graff Pink in the top two percent of the world’s diamonds.

8. Princie Pink (Because "Prince" and "Pink" don't really go together)

Discovered more than 300 years ago in the Golconda mines, this pretty pink Indian diamond is now the MOST EXPENSIVE diamond to have ever been sold at Christie’s, the most expensive Golconda diamond ever sold and the third-highest price ever paid for a jewel at auction – sold for a cool $40mill! (No biggie). It previously belonged to the Nizam of Hyderabad himself after being purchased in a 1960 auction for £46,000 ($1.3 million today). He decided to call it the “Princie” in honor of the 14-year-old Prince of Baroda (how nice of him!), son of Maharani Sita Devi (another Indian royal).

* Just in case you were wondering...and I know you were...the Nizams were among the richest people in history with the most spectacular collection of diamonds and precious jewels.

9. The Agra Diamond

This cushion-cut, 28.15 carat, fancy light pink, Agra diamond, had an original weight of 31.41 carats before being re-cut by its present owner, the SIBA Corporation of Hong Kong (who bought it at auction in 1990 for £4,070,000 from Louis Winan - that's a lot of pounds). Named after the city of Agra in India, the diamond dates back to the 15th century and was owned by various Mogul Emperors (moguls? and emperors??? their lives must have been pretty sweet!). How the stone found its way to England is unknown (Shhh....it was me ;)), however it was eventually purchased by the famous London jeweler and author, Edwin Streeter in 1891. He re-cut the diamond from 41 carats to 31.41 carats to eliminate some black inclusions (racist!). Streeter purchased the stone from Hertz for a pearl necklace worth £14,000, and £1,000 in cash (that's like a trillion $$$ today).

10. and finally....the Pink Dream (sounds like something from Carebears or Telletubbies?!)

Previously known as the Pink Star, and the Steinmetz Pink before that, this modified oval, internally flawless, brilliant cut is the largest known fancy vivid pink diamond weighing in at 59.60 carats (11.920 g). She (her name is "Pink Dream" after all) is the MOST EXPENSIVE GEM EVER sold at auction and is quite possibly the finest pink diamond in the world graded by the Gemological Institute of America. It was sold to New York City diamond cutter, Isaac Wolf, for an astounding $83 million dollars! (You can buy 2 Princies with that!)

So that's it.. I hope that you laughed, cried and then laughed again. By now, I am sure that you are just sick to the stomach at the thought of anything pink....but if not, be sure to check out Leibish & Co. - who know way too much about pink diamonds (or any color for that matter)!