What do you think 101.73 carats of “diamond perfection” is worth? Would you believe $26.7 million (or $254,400 per carat)?
That’s what the prestige jeweler Harry Winston paid last week at Christie’s Geneva for the largest flawless diamond ever to be offered at auction. The selling price established an auction record for a colorless diamond.
Discovered in the Jwaneng mine in Botswana, the once-in-a-generation gem was carved from a rough diamond weighing a staggering 236 carats. According to reports, expert diamond cutters toiled on the golf-ball-size specimen for 21 months.
The cutters were forced to sacrifice 57 percent of the diamond's original weight to achieve a pear-shape, D-color, Type IIA flawless gem — the best ratings for color and clarity. Forbes.com reported that fewer than 2 percent of the world’s diamonds meet the type IIA criteria for transparency and brilliance.
An auction spokesperson described the diamond as “ultimate perfection” and explained that it was literally “sculpted like a work of art."
Because the magnificent gem is brand new to the auction scene, the purchaser earned the privilege of naming the stone. It will now be known as “The Winston Legacy.”
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