The largest diamond ever offered at auction went under the hammer in Geneva on Tuesday evening for nearly US$34 million, a world record for a gem of its kind, the Christie’s auction house said.
The 163.41-carat flawless D colour diamond, suspended from an emerald and diamond necklace called The Art of Grisogono, sold for 33.5 million Swiss francs (US$33.8 million), after taxes and commissions, at the Christie’s autumn jewel auction.
This marks “a new world-record price for a D colour diamond at auction”, said Rahul Kadakia, auctioneer and head of Christie’s international jewels division.
I am disappointed [it] didn’t sell for a more dazzling price
D is the highest colour grade attributed to a diamond, indicating that the stone is completely colourless, and thus extremely rare.
With a drawn-out round of rapid-fire bidding starting at 20 million francs, the necklace was finally sold to a telephone bidder, who wished to remain anonymous, for well above the asking price of 25 million.
But some had expected The Art of Grisogono, which Christie’s described as a “masterpiece of unparalleled beauty and exquisite workmanship”, to fetch even more.
“I am disappointed that the Art of de Grisogono didn’t sell for a more dazzling price,” said Tobias Kormind, head of 77 Diamonds, a large European online diamond jeweller, who had said before the sale he thought the price might top US$50 million.
