NEW YORK (US) – A diamond, which is of the size of an egg and is said to be one of the rarest gemstones, is all set to go under the hammer next month and is expected to fetch $12 million to $30 million (23.03 million pounds).
The 102.39-carat diamond, which is a flawless white sparkler, is the second-largest oval gemstone of its kind to be auctioned, said Sotheby’s on Thursday. The largest, a 118.28-carat diamond, fetched a whopping $30.8 million when it was sold in 2013.
Known among gemstone experts as D colour flawless or internally flawless white diamonds, only seven such stones over 100 carats have previously been sold at auction.
“More and more people have come to understand that something billions of years old and of the size of a lollipop can store as much value as a Rembrandt self-portrait or a Basquiat,” said Gary Schuler, worldwide chairman of jewellery at Sotheby’s.
It will go under the hammer in Hong Kong on October 5 in a single-lot action without a reserve price.
“Diamonds of this caliber and size have sold anywhere between $11.9 million to $33.7 million,” said Quig Bruning, who heads Sotheby’s New York jewellery department.
According to the auction house, the gemstone was cut from a 271-carat rough diamond that was discovered at the Victor Mine in Ontario, Canada, in 2018. It took more than a year to cut and polish it.
The most famous big diamonds are the Koh-i-Noor and The Cullinan 1, which are part of the British Crown Jewels.