118.58 carat diamond sold for $5.21m by Dubai bourse

Dubai’s Diamond Exchange has just sold one rough diamond — all 118.58 carats of it and which was picked up for $5.21 million. That works out to a handy $44,004 a carat.

The tender was hosted by Trans Atlantic Gems Sales (TAGS), a leading rough diamond tender and auction house. This sale follows a “recordbreaking” tender hosted by Stargems at the DDE in December last, where $87 million worth of rough diamonds were sold in one tender event.

“It is in part thanks to these successive tenders that we were faced with the problem of providing enough space, which is why we are in the process of tripling our capacity over the next six months,” said Ahmad Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC, under which Dubai Diamond Exchange operates.

Fair price

“With the trade gap between Antwerp and Dubai now less than a billion dollars, our position as a transparent and highly-regulated market has made us the go-to for legitimate traders who are seeking a fair price for their diamonds, particularly those based in Africa which is within just a short flight.”

The latest tender drew interest from India, Israeli and European diamond houses. The recent MoU between Dubai Diamond Exchange and the Israel Diamond Exchange is set to further support growth.