Sotheby¡¯s is set to auction off a 102-carat diamond that could become the most expensive jewel ever sold to an online bidder.
Sotheby¡¯s says that the 102.39-carat diamond, a flawless white sparkler, was the second-largest oval diamond of its kind to be offered at auction, reports Reuters.?
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The largest - a 118.28-carat diamond - was sold for $30.8 million in 2013.
Only seven such diamonds - known in the trade as D colour flawless or internally flawless white diamonds - over 100 carats, have previously been sold at auctions.
The diamond which is about the size of an egg or a large lollipop, is going up for auction next month.?
¡°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 as a Rembrandt self-portrait or a Basquiat,¡± Gary Schuler, worldwide chairman of jewellery at Sotheby¡¯s, said in a statement.
The diamond will be sold in a single-lot action without a reserve price at Sotheby¡¯s, in Hong Kong, on October 5.?¡°Diamonds of this calibre and size have sold anywhere between $11.9 million to $33.7 million,¡± said Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby¡¯s New York jewellery department.
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The latest diamond for auction was cut from a 271-carat rough, discovered in the Victor Mine in Ontario, Canada, in 2018. It was then cut and polished over a year by Diacore, specialists in sourcing, cutting, and polishing extraordinary diamonds, according to Sotheby¡¯s.
Two of the most famous large diamonds - the Koh-i-Noor and The Cullinan 1 - belong to the British monarchy and form part of the British Crown Jewels.
The world record for any diamond or jewel sold at auction was set in 2017 when a 59.60-carat fancy vivid pink diamond was sold for $71.2 million to the Hong Kong jewelry company Chow Tai Fook, Sotheby¡¯s said.
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All Inputs Reuters