A rare 11 carat pink diamond is set to break records at auction – and it has a connection to the Queen

The 11 Carat Williamson Pink Star could fetch over $21 million at auction next month

The CFT Pink Williamson diamond
(Image credit: Sotheby's)

Sotheby’s will auction off the Williamson Pink Star, a rare 11 Carat pink diamond, in October, with many expecting the price to break records. The flawless pink stone comes from the same mines as one of the Queen’s most valuable jewels, the Williamson Pink Diamond Brooch.


Pretty in pink gets a whole new meaning next month, when one of the largest flawless pink diamonds in history will appear at auction.

At 11.15 carats, the Williamson Pink Star is the second largest internally flawless fancy vivid pink diamond to ever appear at auction.

The diamond is cushion shaped and is something of a sister stone to one belonging to Her Majesty the Queen, the one cut into her $34 million Williamson pink diamond brooch.

Both stones were discovered at the Williamson Mine and the Williamson Pink Star originated as a 32-carat rough diamond bearing the fine bubblegum pink hue for which the mine, one of the oldest operating diamond mines in the world, is known.

The gem is named after two of history’s most famous pink diamonds, Her Majesty’s  Williamson diamond – a 23.60-carat stone presented to then-Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip as a wedding gift in 1947 by the owner of the mine - and the CTF Pink Star, the 59.60-carat oval mixed-cut diamond sold at Sotheby’s in April 2017 for a record-breaking $71.2 million.

The Sotheby's auction of the Williamson pink diamond could break records

(Image credit: Sotheby's)

Diamond experts Steven Stone shared some insight into the incredibly rare pink diamond with woman&home ahead of its auction.

Zack Stone said, “Found in a small number of diamond mines throughout the world, pink diamonds are one of the rarest coloured diamonds that exist.”

“The diamond’s name is in tribute to one of the most famous pink diamonds, which is in the Queen’s Williamson brooch – worth a staggering $34M, it’s the second most valuable brooch in her collection.”

“Pink diamonds are exceedingly valuable due to their rarity – the price can be much more than the price of a traditional white diamond. Typical white diamonds are usually pricier the more they lack colour, but with pink diamonds, the more vivid the colour, the more expensive the stone usually is.

Taking this into account, I’d estimate the approximate value of the Williamson Pink Star diamond to be $20,000,000.”

Luxury lovers will have to wait until Sotheby’s Hong Kong’s auction on October 5 to see just how much the deluxe diamond is sold for.

Jack Slater
Freelance writer

Jack Slater is not the Last Action Hero, but that's what comes up first when you Google him. Preferring a much more sedentary life, Jack gets his thrills by covering news, entertainment, celebrity, film and culture for woman&home, and other digital publications.

Having written for various print and online publications—ranging from national syndicates to niche magazines—Jack has written about nearly everything there is to write about, covering LGBTQ+ news, celebrity features, TV and film scoops, reviewing the latest theatre shows lighting up London’s West End and the most pressing of SEO based stories.