YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. A rare pink diamond has fetched 50.3m Swiss francs ($50m; £38.5m) at auction, a record price per carat, BBC reported.

The diamond – named Pink Legacy, weighing in at just under 19 carats, was bought by US brand Harry Winston at Christie’s in Geneva, Switzerland.

The price of around $2.6m per carat marked a world record for a pink diamond, according to the Europe head of auction house Christie's.

It had been valued at between $30-$50m before sale, and was bought after only five minutes of bidding.

The diamond's new owners have rechristened it the Winston Pink Legacy.

Christie's international head of jewellery Rahul Kadakia once described it as "one of the world's greatest diamonds".

The diamond was found in a South African mine around 100 years ago and has likely not been altered since it was first cut in 1920, Christie's said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan