Shine bright like a diamond
Largest diamond ever auctioned sold for record sum in Geneva.
GENEvA: The largest diamond ever offered at auction went under the hammer in Geneva for 33.5mil Swiss francs (RM141.6mil), a world record for a gem of its kind, the Christie’s auction house said.
The 163.41carat flawless D colour diamond, suspended from an emerald and diamond necklace called The Art of Grisogono, sold for 33.5mil Swiss francs (RM141.6mil), after taxes and commissions, at the Christie’s autumn jewel auction.
This marks “a new worldrecord price for a D colour diamond at auction”, Rahul Kadakia, auctioneer and head of Christie’s international jewels division, said on Tuesday.
D is the highest colour grade attributed to a diamond, indicating that the stone is completely colourless, and thus extremely rare.
With a drawnout round of rapid fire bidding starting at 20mil Swiss francs (RM84mil), the necklace was finally sold to a telephone bidder, who wished to remain anonymous, for well above the asking price of 25mil Swiss francs (RM105mil).
But some had expected the diamond, which Christie’s described as a “masterpiece of unparalleled beauty and exquisite workmanship”, to fetch even more.
“I am disappointed that the Art of de Grisogono didn’t sell for a more dazzling price,” said Tobias Kormind, head of 77 Diamonds, a large European online diamond jeweller.
The flawless, D colour 11A type diamond was cut from a 404 carat rough rock which was discovered in February 2016, in the Lulo mine in Angola – the 27th biggest rough white diamond ever discovered. — AFP