The largest pear-shaped fancy vivid pink diamond ever put up for auction could sell for up to $35 million at a Christie’s sale of rare jewels on Nov. 8, the auctioneer said on Wednesday.

“The diamond weighs 18.18 carats, which is of course an extremely fortuitous number for Asian collectors. We’ve had a huge amount of interest around the world already,” said Max Fawcett, head of Christie’s jewellery department in Geneva.

“The colour is exceptional. It’s a true vivid pink and a clean stone. It really, really is a gem and something that we haven’t seen in a long time at Christie’s”.

The Fortune Pink Diamond is estimated to go for $25 million to $35 million.

The largest vivid pink diamond sold at Christie’s was the 18.96-carat Winston Pink Legacy, which got $50.4 million in 2018, a world record price per carat for a pink diamond sold at auction.

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is using a $10 million gift from the family of a former trustee to fund the acquisition of works by women artists.

The money comes from the relatives of Vicki Sant, the late collector who became the museum’s first female president in 2003. It will now be put toward addressing historical gaps in the museum’s collection.

Sant was a member of the museum’s board from 2000 until her death in 2018. She served as chair of the board from 2003 to 2014.

In a statement, the museum’s director, Kaywin Feldman, said the new endowment fund, which will be distributed under the official title Victoria P. Sant Fund for Women Artists, will be used to acquire “masterpieces.”

Works purchased through the fund will build on recent acquisitions of works by women artists, including a portrait painting and a sculpture by Lavinia Fontana and Luisa Roldán, respectively.

Together with her husband Roger, who founded the AES corporation, Sant accumulated a collection centered around Post-Impressionists like Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard, as well as Nabis artists like Maurice Denis. The Sants, who gifted an acquisition fund for 19th-century paintings to the NGA, appeared on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list.

The endowment comes following as $50 million in art collected by the couple is set to be sold at Christie’s this fall.

The news also comes as the NGA pushes to diversify its holdings. The museum has reported that, in the last two years, 50 percent of the works it acquired were by artists of color, up from the 12.6 percent in the two-year period prior to that one. Works by women artists comprised 35.5 percent of its acquisitions this year, up from the 20.3 percent during the two years prior.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has approved the setting up of a space museum and planetarium in Abuja.

Minister of Science and Technology and Innovation, Adeleke Mamora said this while briefing newsmen at the end of Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.

Planetarium is a theatre built for the presentation of education and entertainment on space science.

He said the project would cost N3.5 billion, but at no cost to the Nigerian government.

Mamora said that the project being handled under Public-Private Partnership would be sited at the premises of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) in Abuja.

“Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation presented a memo to the council in respect of Public-Private Partnership brought by one of our of our agencies and that is NASRDA.

“The memo is essentially to secure partnership on the upgrade, equipping and marketing of the space museum and planetarium.

“And the buildings meant for this project has been in place since 2018; but because of non-availability of funds to put the necessary equipment in place, the project has been stalled,’’ he said.

The minister said Wednesday’s decision rode on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari at the National Space Council meeting earlier in the year.

He said the president directed at the meeting that the director-general of NASRDA should explore and exploit collaboration with the private sector.

He added that a proposal was received from a private company in Nigeria.

This is to the processes in terms of outlining of a business case ensuring compliance with all the requirements needed to present the memo before the cabinet.

“Fortunately, the memo was approved and the cost of the project is about N3.5 billion and it is at no cost to government; the project will last for about 15 years when, thereafter, it reverts to the Federal Government.

“The buildings I am referring to are located at the NASDRA premises here in Abuja,’’ he said.

Mamora said that the project would provide jobs for more than 200 people and provide an opportunity for learning experience in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.