GENEVA • Two spectacular diamonds mounted as a pair of earrings have fetched a record US$57.4 million (S$79.8 million) at an auction in Geneva, with an unnamed Asia-based buyer netting both.

The earrings were sold as separate lots, with the flawless and vivid "Apollo Blue" fetching US$42.087 million and the equally intensely luminescent "Artemis Pink" going for US$15.33 million, buyer's premium included.

The earrings, named after Greek gods, were respectively valued at between US$38 million and US$50 million and US$12.5 million and US$18 million.

The 14.54-carat "Apollo Blue" is the largest gemstone in its category ever auctioned and has been cut and polished to a pear shape. The 16-carat "Artemis Pink" is near identical in shape but rarer. It is one of the most "chemically pure" diamonds, according to the Gemological Institute of America.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE