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Sotheby's sells diamond earrings for record $57 million

One earing is decorated with a pink diamond, the other - with a blue one

© AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

GENEVA, May 17. /TASS/. A pair of mismatched earrings - one with a blue diamond and the other with a pink one - went under hammer in Geneva at a record-breaking price of more than $57 million, the Sotheby's auction house said.

David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby's International Jewellery Division, described the earrings as "by far the most important pair of earrings ever offered at auction."

#AuctionUpdate World record for a pair of #earrings: The exquisite 'Apollo' and 'Artemis' diamonds bring $57,425,478 #SothebysJewels pic.twitter.com/IfZa7ggitu
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) 16 May 2017

"The divine diamond twins - one pink and the other blue - are perfectly matched in size, cut and tonality," Sotheby’s said in its description of the lots. "The stones are currently mounted as a spectacular pair of earrings, but are being offered separately, on account of their extreme rarity, power and presence."

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The diamonds - a blue diamond named Apollo and a pink diamond named Artemis - were bought by the same phone bidder from Asia and will remain a pair.

The 14.54-carat Fancy Vivid blue diamond, Apollo, was sold for more than $42 million, while Artemis, a 16-carat Fancy Intense pink diamond, went under hammer for over 15 million.

"These exquisite coloured diamonds are enormously rare and each is a wonderful stone in its own right. Together, as a pair of earrings, they are breathtaking. We have named them after Apollo and Artemis, a twin brother and sister of great power and beauty who were among the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities," Bennett said.

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