A 102-carat ‘perfect’ diamond could become the most expensive ever sold to online bidder at Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s is about to public sale off a 102-carat diamond that would develop into the costliest ever offered to a web-based bidder.

The stone, a 102.39-carat D Color Flawless Oval Diamond, may fetch between $10 million and $30 million. Solely seven flawless white diamonds of greater than 100 carats have ever been offered at public sale. It’s the second-largest oval diamond of its type ever offered at public sale.

“100-carat diamonds as a rule are exceedingly uncommon,” stated Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby’s jewellery division in New York. “100-carat D flawless are much more uncommon.”

The stone, described by Sotheby’s as “the scale of a lollipop,” shall be offered at a dwell public sale in Hong Kong on Oct. 5, however it should even be open to on-line bidders beginning on Tuesday. If it is bought by a web-based bidder, it might seemingly prime the document for the costliest piece of bijou ever offered on-line — a pair of fancy blue and pink diamond earrings that offered for $6 million on-line in 2016.

The 102-carat stone was lower from a 271-carat tough diamond that was found within the Victor Mine in Ontario, Canada, in 2018. The diamond was lower and polished over the course of a yr by Diacore to deliver out its “finest brilliance, hearth and scintillation,” based on Sotheby’s. The stone belongs to an elite subgroup of diamonds referred to as “Sort IIa,” that are probably the most chemically pure kind of diamond with the very best stage of transparency.

Demand for the rarest, largest diamonds has strengthened throughout the coronavirus pandemic, as the rich have benefitted from stronger inventory markets and buyers search for long-term shops of worth in a monetary world awash with money. Whereas demand for on a regular basis jewellery offered in shops has plunged — since folks aren’t visiting malls and outlets as usually, or carrying jewellery as usually —  costs for so-called investible diamonds have remained sturdy. Rich consumers, particularly in Asia and the Center East, covet diamonds as the final word hard-asset, since they’re sturdy and transportable.

Gross sales of bijou and diamonds on-line have additionally elevated, as folks purchase extra from house. Sotheby’s stated its on-line jewellery gross sales have totaled $31 million this yr, seven instances greater than the identical interval final yr. It has offered three tons for greater than $1 million on-line.

“The retail expertise — going into the shop, making an attempt issues on — that is gone proper now, or on the very least has modified considerably,” Bruning stated. “A whole lot of issues have moved on-line, and we now have been capable of actually capitalize on that by showcasing issues in a brand new and compelling sort of manner globally.”

When requested whether or not the client of a 100-carat diamond would ever put on it, he stated “completely. They need to get pleasure from them.”