THE largest white diamond ever to come to auction will hit the block at Christie’s in Geneva on May 11. The 228-carat, pear-shaped diamond carries a presale estimate of US$20 million to US$30 million (R434 million).
The stone, which is about the size of a chicken’s egg, was mined about 20 years ago in South Africa but is only now coming up for public sale.
“Right now there is a great appetite in the market for diamonds,” says Rahul Kadakia, the international head of jewellery at Christie’s.
The firm also brokered the gem’s initial private sale to a collector, who held on to it for most of the past two decades. “With the market the way it is in 2021, there was a huge resurgence both in the art market and the jewellery market. The second owner approached us and said, ‘How would you feel about marketing this for us at public auction?’” – news24.com