← All 50 obscenities
Lot 5/5 · Jewels & Diamonds2010
#5 Most Expensive
The ItemThe Graff Pink

A jeweler bought his own future namesake gem, then cut it down purely to put his name on it.

$46,200,000

The Item

Previously known simply as "The Pink," the diamond was held privately for six decades before its owner consigned it to Sotheby's in 2010 — at the time, the largest fancy intense pink diamond ever to reach auction.

Bidding for the stone was fierce from the moment it opened.

Why It's Obscene

British jeweler Laurence Graff won it for a record $46.2 million, then had it recut slightly smaller and renamed "The Graff Pink" — an already record-breaking diamond, altered purely to stamp his own name on it.

The recut has never been publicly disclosed in detail, which hasn't stopped it from remaining one of the most famous diamonds in the world.

The Graff PinkVerified · Public record
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