Can You Afford a Perfect 102 Carat Diamond at a Sotheby’s Auction? Perhaps!
Sotheby’s is offering one of the world’s most exceptional natural diamonds to ever hit the auction market – a 102.39-carat D color flawless oval diamond. What makes this sale even more ground-breaking is that the diamond stone is being sold at a world renowned auction house acclaimed for their diamond jewelry without a reserve – which means there is no minimum selling price and it goes to the highest bidder regardless of its intrinsic value. This is the first time that any auction house has ever conducted a diamond auction of this importance (or any work of art or object of this high value) without a reserve.
How rare is this diamond jewel? Only seven diamonds weighing over 100 carats of D color have ever appeared at auction. Since Sotheby’s isn’t listing a pre-sale estimate for this stone, the closest comparable is the 118.28-carat D color flawless oval diamond the auction house sold in October 2013 for $30.8 million.
“Never before has the appreciation for world-class diamond stones 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,” said Gary Schuler, Sotheby’s Worldwide Chairman of Jewelry. Without a reserve, the auction house is confirming its confidence in the high-end diamond market.
Online bidding opens on September 15 and the stone will be offered on October 5 at a stand-alone, single lot live auction in Hong Kong. All eyes will be on this online diamond sale, reflecting the growing interest for digital jewelry auctions, and the hammer price.
The magnificent oval cut 102 carat diamond is part of a rare subgroup of natural diamonds known as Type IIa, which are the most pure and transparent stones, and the most coveted by collectors and world-class designers alike. Originally, Type IIa diamonds were identified as originating from the famous Golconda diamond mines of India. Today, stones of this diamond classification are being uncovered around the world, however they remain exceptionally rare diamond discoveries.
The newly discovered diamond was cut from a 271-carat rough stone found in the Victor Mine in Ontario, Canada. Following its discovery, Diacore spent more than a year cutting and polishing the rough into the perfect diamond oval. This epic diamond has already made history and the bidding hasn’t even begun.
