At 5.03 carats, Aurora Green, the rectangular-cut diamond in a pink diamond setting, broke the world auction record and price per carat (US$16.8 million) record for a green diamond, Christie’s said.

It was sold at the auction house’s Magnificent Jewels spring sale and the event that attracted 197 buyers from 19 countries.

A spokeswoman for the buyer said that the purchase was made as the item was “rare and precious”.

The Aurora Green was the top lot of the sale and one of four lots that set world auction records. The sale totalled more than US$85 million with 10 lots exceeding more than US$1 million. Coloured diamonds, coloured gems and jadeite were among the top lots. A total of 72% of items were sold by lot and 73% by value.