The 15.81-carat Sakura gem sold for $29.3 million in Hong Kong, making it the most expensive purple-pink diamond sold at auction, reveals "CNN". The auctioneer Christie's, responsible for the sale, claims that the diamond nicknamed for cherry blossoms (common trees in Japan) is the largest of its kind to be auctioned.

Set in a single platinum ring, the valuable stone was rated "flawless," meaning that possible blemishes are only visible under magnification. The stone was also rated as fancy vivid, a measure only achieved by 4% of pink diamonds.

The president of Christie's jewelry department, Vickie Sek, described the auction as "an important chapter in the history of jewelry auctions." The official admitted to "CNN" that the stone has "exactly the tone of the cherry blossom," adding that it is extremely rare for pink diamonds to be classified as perfect, as they contain very visible graining. Another point of satisfaction was the size of the stone, as less than 10% of this type of diamond weighs more than 0.2 carats.

Despite the accolades, Sakura's final price fell short of the auctioneer's estimate, who was aiming to sell the gemstone for $38 million. Still, and although the value was far off, the purple-pink diamond broke the auction record for such a stone. Last year, the 14.8-carat "Spirit of the Rose" diamond raised $27 million in Geneva through auctioneer Sotheby's.

To date, the most expensive diamond of its kind was sold in 2017. The 59.6-carat pink diamond snatched up the record when it sold for $71.2 million at Sotheby's in Hong Kong, having been renamed CTF Pink Star by the buyers.