Diamond expected to sell for over $15M
NEW YORK – A 76-carat diamond billed as one of the most famous in the world is expected to fetch much more than $15 million when it hits the auction block in November, Christie’s said Friday.
The colossal gem, which Christie’s said was the finest and largest perfect Golconda diamond ever to appear at auction, is perfect in colour and internally flawless.
“The legendary Golconda mines in India produced some of the world’s most famous diamonds, including the Dresden green, the blue Hope, and the Koh-i-noor (in the Royal Collection at the Tower of London),” Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry for Christie’s Americas and Switzerland, said in an interview.
The diamond, named the Archduke Joseph Diamond for one of its former owners, is the highlight of Christie’s sale of precious gems in Geneva in November, the auction house said in a statement.
A Christie’s spokeswoman said the owner of the diamond wanted to remain anonymous.
Prices for rare, top-quality diamonds have soared in recent years, although the expected price would not make the record books.
Higher prices attained in recent years include $24.3 million for the Wittelsbach Diamond — a 17th-century cushion-shaped deep greyishblue diamond — in 2008 at Christie’s in London.
Two years ago a 25-carat pink diamond soared to more than $46 million at Sotheby’s in Geneva, while last December Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor’s 33-carat diamond ring, given to her by husband Richard Burton, fetched $8.8 million, briefly setting a new per-carat record for a colourless diamond of $240,000 that has already been eclipsed.
“The Archduke Joseph Diamond created a sensation when Christie’s Geneva offered it for sale the first time in November 1993, where it realized 9.7 million Swiss francs ($6.5 million) — the equivalent of $10.5 million today,” noted Francois Curiel, international head of Christie’s jewelry department.
Curiel said given its history, the diamond could easily top $15 million in the upcoming auction.
The diamond will be auctioned in Geneva on Nov. 13, following an exhibition tour in New York, Hong Kong and Geneva.