We get an insider's view of the ultra-exclusive international Pink Tender auction
A vow of secrecy, clandestine phone calls and a mystery meeting initiated entry to one of the world's most exclusive auctions last week - the sale of rare pink diamonds.
With an invitation from Hong Kong's Pink Tender - the first offered to an outsider since the city's auction began in 1991 - the Sunday Morning Post was plunged into a web of intrigue and tight security.
Establishing contact with the Post through a secret phone call a week before the event, organisers disclosed no more than a general location, a date, a time and a phone number.
Seven days later, standing at a location that cannot be divulged, this reporter and a photographer were escorted to a location in Kowloon by a large man dressed in a dark suit.
We were told not to use any words to indicate the type of building or its rough location.
'I feel naked because I can't carry a gun,' said senior sales executive of Argyle Diamonds Gavin Pearce, who greeted us. 'We have never had a problem. But if any details of security are revealed, I would be shot by this time next year.'
