Flawless 102-carat diamond sells for 'bargain' $15.7 million at Sotheby's auction
The buyer named the gem after his daughter
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sold!
A flawless 102-carat diamond has been purchased for $15.7 million in a Sotheby’s auction. Notably sold without a reserve price, one expert described the transaction as a "bargain" buy.
The rare sparkler, a 102.39-carat D Color Flawless Oval Diamond, was bought by an anonymous telephone bidder through an online auction hosted by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on Monday, BBC reports.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CORONAVIRUS-INDUCED ECONOMIC DOWNTURN SEES WEALTHY CASHING IN ON ART, MEMORABILIA
The luxury auction house said the sale was historic as the “first world-class diamond ever to be auctioned without reserve,” or without a minimum sum set by the seller.
The 102-carat jewel was expected to fetch between $10 million to $30 million; only seven other D Color white diamonds over 100 carats have ever sold at auction.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 102.39-carat D Color Flawless Oval Diamond. (Sotheby's)
Tobias Kormind, co-founder of online jeweler 77 Diamonds, argued that the new owner “bagged a bargain” for the gem, as the decision to eschew a reserve price came “back to bite” the seller, Kormind told the BBC.
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Sotheby’s says this diamond was cut from a 271-carat rough and discovered in Ontario, Canada, in 2018, in the Victor Mine. The rough was then cut and polished over a year by diamond specialists Diacore to bring out its brilliance.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now, the diamond is headed to a private collector in Japan, Sotheby’s wrote on Instagram.
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The auction house said that the buyer has named the precious stone the “Maiko Star” after his second daughter. In April 2019, the same collector purchased an 88.22-carat oval, brilliant diamond for $13.8 million and called it the “Manami Star,” in honor of his eldest daughter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News’ Jeanette Settembre contributed to this report.