The largest white diamond ever to come to auction will hit the block at Christie\u2019s in Geneva on 11 May.<\/p>\n
The 228-carat, pear-shaped diamond carries a presale estimate of $20 million to $30 million (R290 million – R430 million). The stone, which is about the size of a chicken\u2019s egg, was mined about 20 years ago in South Africa but is only now coming up for public sale.<\/p>\n
“Right now there is a great appetite in the market for diamonds,” says \u200b\u200bRahul Kadakia, the international head of jewellery at Christie\u2019s. The firm also brokered the gem\u2019s initial private sale to a collector, who held on to it for most of the past two decades.<\/p>\n
“With the market the way it is\u2014in 2021 there was a huge resurgence both in the art market and the jewellery market\u2014the second owner approached us and said, \u2018How would you feel about marketing this for us at public auction?\u2019”<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, Kadakia felt just fine with an\u00a0assignment to sell a record-breaking gem.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,\u201d he says. \u201cIf, after the sale, you come up to me and say, \u2018Can you find me another 230-carat diamond?\u2019\u2014well, I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Investment Potential<\/strong><\/p>\n Should the stone sell for its high estimate, it would immediately become\u00a0one of the most expensive\u00a0white diamonds in the world.<\/p>\n Yet Kadakia says the estimate\u2019s comparatively modest price per carat – just shy of $88,000 – makes the gem an attractive investment.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s quite appealing to collectors from all areas of the market,” he says, “ranging from pure investors who just want to buy a big portable asset and put it away to someone who wants to buy it to enjoy it as a set piece of jewelry and, at the same time, put their money into something quite portable.”<\/p>\n Christie\u2019s is eager to compare the stone\u2019s estimate to white diamonds it\u2019s sold previously, including a 102-carat stone that sold in 2013 for $26.7 million and an emerald and diamond de Grisogono necklace featuring a 163-carat centrepiece, which sold for $33.7 million in 2017. The former diamond\u2019s price per carat was around $262,000; the latter\u2019s was about $206,000.<\/p>\n Both of those diamonds were designated as \u201cD\u201d colour, meaning they were truly colourless; this 228-carat diamond, in contrast, is graded G, meaning that it is \u201cnear colourless,\u201d three steps below on the Gemological Institute of America\u2019s colour scale.<\/p>\n Kadakia acknowledges that this grade impacts the price, but says it should do nothing to alter its desirability.<\/p>\n “So, with diamonds it\u2019s the four Cs: cut, color, clarity, and carat weight,” he says. “And that determines the price for three-, five-, 10-, 50-carat stones, maybe even the 163-carat stone which we sold in 2017.”<\/p>\n But here, he argues, “you have a stone which weighs almost 230 carats. Is there really a price per carat, or are you looking differently at it, like a work of art?\u201d He urges people to hold the stone in the palm of their hand. \u201cIt feels like $100 million.”<\/p>\n \u2018Nothing is impossible\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Diamond prices have\u00a0risen precipitously\u00a0in recent months.\u00a0De Beers\u00a0yanked prices up\u00a0by nearly 10% at its sale\u00a0in January, with cheaper diamonds jumping as much as 20%.<\/p>\n Kadakia anticipates strong interest from the Middle East\u00a0and is accordingly commencing the diamond\u2019s world tour in Dubai. After that, the stone will visit Taipei and\u00a0New York,\u00a0and then it goes to Switzerland for auction.<\/p>\n Should buyers decide that this is something they\u2019d like to wear in public, \u201ca necklace would be the most logical vehicle\u201d for the stone,\u00a0Kadakia says. \u201cThis is not going on a ring, I can tell you that much.\u201d<\/p>\n Although, he adds on reflection, “I have seen clients wear rings up to 100 carats, so nothing is impossible in our world.”<\/p>\n
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