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The 100-carat, emerald cut, D color, internally flawless diamond led Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction.
The highly anticipated auction of an internally “flawless” 100-carat emerald-cut diamond, ended up with the rock fetching US$22.1 million, at a Sotheby’s sale in New York.
The figure, a little lower than the $25 million predicted, placed the stone amount the most expensive ever sold by the auction house. In 2010, Sotheby’s obtained $46 million for a 24.78-carat emerald-cut pink diamond, “The Graff”.
Sotheby’s said online buyers contributed “heavily” to the final total.
The 100-carat, emerald cut, D color, internally flawless diamond led Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction, which raised more than $65 million — a record for a jewellery auction at the house’s New York branch.
The rock was mined in southern Africa within the last 10 years and weighed over 200 carats before it was cut and polished.
Other diamonds that have made history are:
* The Pink Star, sold in 2013 at a Sotheby’s action in Geneva, fetched $83.2 million, but it was expected to fetch only $60 million.
The Pink Star, fetched $83.2 million in 2013 (Photo: Sotheby’s)
Described as one of “the earth’s greatest natural treasures”, the oval-cut 59.6 carat “Pink Star” is the largest flawless pink diamond that the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has ever graded.
* The Wittelsbach-Graff, sold for $23.4 million at Christie’s in 2008. The rock is 31.06 carats and boasts a penetrating, though slightly less intense, blue colour.
The Wittelsbach-Graff sold for $23.4 million at Christie’s in 2008. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons).
This diamond entered into jewellery lore in the 17th century, when Philip IV of Spain gave it to his daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa, upon her engagement to Emperor Leopold I of Austria. The diamond ended up with the House of Wittelsbach, a ruling Bavarian family, in 1722.
* Christies Perfect Pink, which fetched $23.2 million, it’s a 14.23-carat rock among the most rare and expensive in its class.
Christies Perfect Pink went for $23 million in Hong Kong in 2010. (Photo: Christie’s)
The rectangular gem went under the hammer at British art auction house Christie’s Hong Kong in 2010, where it was bought by an anonymous bidder. It set a record price for a jewel sold at auction in Asia.
