Diamond that could be yours ... for a dazzling £23million

IT will have taken at least a billion years to form in the Earth and was cut and polished for more than 12 months after it was discovered.

But this flawless, 102- carat diamond is likely to end up in the very deep pocket of a buyer much more rapidly when it is sold for up to £23million next month.

It is the sole item on offer in a combination online and live auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Virtual bidders will be able to try their luck from today and the sale will take place on October 5.

The stone is officially categorised as a 102.39-carat D-colour flawless oval diamond and belongs to an elite subgroup known as type IIa – the most chemically pure gems

‘Cut and polished for more than a year’

with the highest level of transparency. Only seven flawless white diamonds of more than 100 carats have ever been sold at auction and this is the second largest oval one.

The biggest, weighing in at 118.28 carats, fetched almost £24million when it was sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October 2013.

‘One hundred-carat diamonds as a rule are exceedingly rare,’ said Quig Bruning, head of the auction house’s jewellery department in New York. ‘ One hundredcarat D flawless are even more rare.’

The diamond on offer now is being sold ‘without reserve’, meaning the winning bid will be the highest, regardless of the amount. While Sotheby’s does not have an official estimate, comparable diamonds have sold for between £8million and £23million in the past, Mr Bruning said.

If it goes to an internet bidder, it is likely to exceed the record for the priciest piece of jewellery sold online – a pair diamond earrings that fetched £4.7million in 2016.

The 102-carat stone was cut from a 271carat rough diamond discovered at the Victor Mine in Ontario, Canada, in 2018.

It was cut and polished by experts for more than a year to bring out its ‘brilliance’, according to the auction house.

Such spectacular diamonds are coveted by buyers, especially in the Middle East and Asia, as portable investments.