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An exceptionally rare pink diamond of nearly 19 carats fetched 50.3 million Swiss francs ($50 million, 44 million euros) at auction in Geneva Tuesday, Christie's said, setting a new per-carat record for a stone of its kind.

The Pink Legacy, which once belonged to the Oppenheimer family who for decades ran the De Beers diamond-mining company, was snapped up by American luxury brand Harry Winston, part of the Swiss Swatch group, according to thelocal.ch.

"$2.6 million per carat. That is a world record per carat for a pink diamond," said Francois Curiel, head of Christie's in Europe, of the price that included all fees and commissions.

The 18.96-carat diamond was discovered in a South African mine around a century ago, Christie's said. It was probably cut in the 1920s and has not been altered since.

The stone was immediately rechristened the "Winston Pink Legacy" by its buyers.

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

The rectangular-cut stone has been graded "fancy vivid" - the highest possible grade of colour intensity - as it has no trace of another hue like purple, orange or brown.

The Pink Legacy is classed as Type IIa, meaning it is extremely chemically pure, a category only two percent of diamonds fall into.