It said 210 diamonds were sold in the first round at the Hong Kong Gem & Jewellery Fair, with most going for well above their starting price, particularly the rare "hero stones".

One of these, an oval cut fancy vivid orangey-yellow 15.11 carat diamond doubled in prices during bidding, although the company did not give any pricing information.

The most active bidders were Chinese companies, with nine buying 20 large stones. There was also special interest from Chinese buyers in coloured diamonds under one carat, with these sold in groups.

Alrosa said over 100 participants had been active on its electronic trading platform during the auction.

Alrosa cutting division director Pavel Vinikhin said the collection taken to Hong Kong was the largest in the company's history.

He said the auction results had been positive, although Typhoon Manghout had hit attendance at the fair.

Due to this, the company is planning to hold another auction in the short-term.

"We also plan to hold the ‘True Colours' auction on a regular basis - once or twice a year," Vinikhin said.

"The results of the bidding clearly show that we have successfully taken another significant step towards our goal of becoming the world leader in the production of coloured diamonds."

Alrosa's shares were up 0.96% in Moscow on Thursday after the announcement to Rb106.15 (US$1.61).