A white diamond the size of a small egg was sold for 30.6 million dollars in Hong Kong, at a Sotheby’s auction. It was purchased by phone. Evidently, not so much for the allure of the stone, but simply as an investment.
It was a battle, given that there were two contenders. The diamond weighs 118 carats. It is an oval diamond defined as “flawless”, which was mined and cut two years ago. It sold for $27.3 million0: a high figure, but below the $28 million minimum estimate set by the auction house (which expected it to reach up to $35 million. But with the commission, the price went up to $30.6 million. The previous record was $26.7 million for a set of white diamonds sold in May at Christie’s in Geneva.
The diamond originally weighed 299 carats when it was found in the rough and is the largest and most significant example of a diamond graded by the Gemological Institute of America. The other highlight of the auction was a flawless, round, blue-toned 7.6-carat diamond that sold to a telephone bidder for $16.1 million, below its estimate of $19 million.
