Christie’s has just announced the world’s largest diamond has been auctioned off for a record breaking $33.8 million, the largest sum of money ever paid for a gem of its kind.
The 163.41-carat flawless diamond necklace, known as Art de Grisgono, sold for $33.8 million after auction house taxes and commissions. The diamond is suspended from a large emerald necklace, with the diamond itself given the color grade D, indicating the stone is of the highest grade possible and is completely colorless.
After several back and forth bids, the necklace finally sold to a telephone bidder, smashing the initial $25 million estimate. The necklace was originally cut from a 404-carat rough diamond discovered in the Lulo mine in Angola earlier this year, with the rough stone being the 27th largest rough diamond to ever be discovered.
After being cut by a series of diamond-cutting specialists in New York, Swiss jeweler de Grisogono proposed 50 different designs for the necklace before settling on an asymmetric design with the stone as the centrepiece.
The news comes one month after Phillips announced Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona sold for a record breaking $17,752,500.
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