A Record $30.6M Achieved for 118-Carat White Diamond; 7.5-Carat Blue Diamond Fails To Sell

A 118.28-carat D-flawless diamond fetched $30.06 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale Monday. It is a world record price for any white diamond at auction. 

The unmounted, oval-shaped diamond is the largest white diamond ever sold at auction and the largest oval D-flawless diamond in the world as graded by the Gemological Institute of America. GIA graded the diamond, reportedly about the size of an egg, as D color, flawless clarity, with excellent polish and symmetry. The diamond was also graded as a Type IIa, making it among the most chemically pure type of diamond with exceptional optical transparency.

The diamond was cut from a 299 carat rough diamond discovered in 2011 from a mine in Southern Africa.

However, there was a disappointment for the evening as a 7.59-carat round fancy vivid blue diamond failed to sell. Known as the Premier Blue, this brilliant-cut internally flawless gem is the largest round fancy vivid blue diamond ever graded by the GIA. Sotheby’s said the round brilliant cut is rarely used in colored diamonds due to the high waste involved in the cutting process. The diamond is mounted on a platinum ring and surrounded by brilliant-cut pink diamonds together weighing approximately 1.70 carats.

The auction held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre took in nearly $95.5 million, making it the highest total for a sale of jewelry in Asia.

In addition to diamonds, jadeite was very popular during the sale. The top item in this category was a double-strand jadeite bead necklace that sold for more than $5.4 million.

Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet and on the Forbes Web site.

Large White Diamond Mined in Lesotho

Photo from the Daily Mail

A 196-ct. rough white diamond has been recovered from the Letšeng mine in the tiny South African country of Lesotho on August 24, Gem Diamonds said Tuesday.

The international diamond mining company, which owns a 70 percent stake in the mine, said in a statement that preliminary examinations indicate that the gem will produce “top color and top clarity polished diamonds,” meaning that it’s going to attract a top dollar per carat.

Gem Diamonds, acquired the Letšeng mine in mid 2006 as a partnership with the Kingdom of Lesotho, which owns a 30 percent stake. Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by the Republic of South Africa.

The mine in recent years produced three of the world’s 20 largest recorded diamonds, namely, the 603-ct. Lesotho Promise, recovered in August 2006, which sold for $12.4 million; the 493-ct. Letšeng Legacy, recovered in September 2007, which sold for $10.4 million; and the 478-ct. Light of Letšeng, recovered in September 2008, which sold for $18.4 million.

“Letšeng continues to live up to its reputation as a unique producer of exceptional diamonds and the recovery of this remarkable 196 carat white diamond reinforces its position as one of the great mines in the diamond industry,” said Clifford Elphick, Gem Diamonds CEO.