It's not unusual for an auction house to call something unique. But Sotheby's latest diamond may be worth the $31.5 million for which it sold on Tuesday.

>> Read more trending stories  

Dubbed "The Unique Pink," it's the "largest fancy vivid pink pear-shaped diamond" ever auctioned, Sotheby's said.

The company said the stone recieved the highest possible color grading for a pink diamond from the Gemological Institute of America and is of "exceedingly pure structure."

Sotheby's noted that fewer than 0.002 percent of diamonds presented to the industry's top grading authority are pink, and even fewer are over 15 carats.

Still, the diamond sold for less than the top estimate of $38 million. And even that was far lower than the record for a pink diamond: The "Graff Pink" 25-carat diamond sold in 2010 for $46.2 million.

As of Wednesday morning, the buyer of "The Unique Pink" hadn't been named.

About the Author

Featured

The renovation of Jekyll Island's Great Dunes golf course includes nine holes designed by Walter Travis in the 1920s for the members of the Jekyll Island Club. Several holes that were part of the original layout where located along the beach and were bulldozed in the 1950s.(Photo by Austin Kaseman)

Credit: Photo by Austin Kaseman