An exceptionally rare, clear diamond “the size of a lollipop” is being offered without reserve at auction by Sotheby’s. According to the auction house, an item of this historic importance and value has never been offered with no-reserve before.
Virtual bidding will start Tuesday, followed by a series of appointment-only previews held in Beijing, Shanghai, New York, Hong Kong and Taipei. The diamond will find a new home following its live auction in Hong Kong on October 5th.
“Perfect in every way”
Unearthed at the Victor Mine in Ontario, Canada, in 2018, the original rough diamond weighed 271 carats. It was planned and fashioned by Diacore over the course of a year. Now weighing 102.39 carats, the polished oval-shaped diamond was determined to be completely flawless, internally and externally, as well as completely colorless. The “D Flawless” pedigree is the highest a diamond can receive in the areas of color and clarity.
But that’s not all. The 102.39 carat masterpiece is also one of fewer than 2% of all gem-quality diamonds which fall into the exceptional Type IIa classification, the most chemically pure of all natural diamonds. Celebrated for their exceptional transparency, Type IIa diamonds are also referred to as Golconda Diamonds, for the region in India where such specimens were first discovered.
Record setting potential
If the diamond is purchased by someone bidding online it’s most likely to set a record for the most expensive jewelry item sold online. The current record-holder is a pair of fancy blue and pink diamond earrings sold online for $6 million in 2016. No one knows what price this diamond will bring and, while there is not an official estimate, comparable diamonds have commanded between $11 million and $30 million in the past.
Gary Schuler, Worldwide Chairman of Jewelry for Sotheby’s observed:
This stunning diamond is the best of the best when it comes to exceptional white diamonds and it is difficult to overstate its rarity and beauty. Never before has the appreciation for world-class diamonds been so acute in the world and more and more people have come to understand that something billions of years old and of the size of a lollipop can store as much value a Rembrandt self-portrait or a Basquiat. The wider comprehension that as the hardest material on earth, this wonder of nature will outlive us for millions more years is certainly another factor for the strength of the demand.
Only seven D color diamonds with flawless or internally-flawless clarity weighing 100 carats or more have ever been sold at auction before. This lot will be the historic eighth, considered by many to be a lucky number.
