• Pink DiamondsIn Roman times diamonds were worn only by men. Soldiers believed they were the hardened tears of the gods and wore them around their necks in battle to bring courage
  • The diamonds in the Queen’s engagement ring came from a tiara that belonged to Prince Philip’s mother
  • Princess Diana’s distinctive sapphire and diamond engagement ring was inherited by Prince Harry and has been valued at more than £250,000
  • A diamond-encrusted saucepan costing £130,000 was offered for sale at Moscow’s Millionaire Fair on Sunday. It cannot actually be used for cooking
  • During the Black Death, English aristocrats wore diamonds believing they could keep the disease at bay
  • The Persians thought that diamonds were made by the devil and considered them cursed
  • The first association with weddings comes from an account of a Hapsburg emperor giving a diamond engagement ring to his wife in 1477
  • One of the most desirable diamonds ever to come to auction and its beauty has haunted people since the very first time they set eyes on it. Worth s estimated £24,000,000.

It is classified as ‘fancy intense pink’ – the most perfect pink colour – by the Gemological Institute of America, and is set between shield-shaped diamond shoulders on a silver ring.

The intense colour, which is incredibly rare, is thought to be caused by an unusual distortion created when the diamond was formed deep inside the earth over millions of years, which makes it absorb light in a certain way.

Categorised as potentially flawless because it needs re-polishing, this puts it among less than 2 per cent of the world’s diamonds.

There is something so exuberant, joyful and intensely feminine about a pink diamond that makes them absolutely irresistible.