South African Diamond Shatters Records
Posted by Alexander Evdakov (Nov 19, 2011)
Sotheby’s Geneva held a jewelry auction in early November 2011, with sales totaling over 70 million dollars. Sotheby’s is the 4th oldest auction house in existence today, and this auction had one of the largest jewelry sale totals in the company’s history. While Geneva has become a hotspot for diamond purchases, this total can largely be attributed to the sale of the largest known pear-shaped fancy vivid yellow diamond ever to be discovered.
Cora International, a manufacturer of some of the largest and rarest diamonds in the world, discovered the 110.3-carat diamond, named the sun drop diamond. The diamond was found in South Africa in 2010, cut and polished by Cora, and placed on display briefly at London’s Natural History Museum in 2011. The Gemological Institute of America classified the gem as fancy vivid yellow, giving it the highest possible color grading. It is quite rare to discover a diamond with such a strong saturation of color.
Cora International is the New York based diamond manufacturer, who initially discovered the diamond in South Africa. As one of the leaders in the diamond cutting industry, Cora was able to give the gem a beautiful and exquisite pear shaped cut, contributing to its breath-taking appearance.
The sun drop diamond auctioned at a price of 12.4 million dollars to an unidentified bidder over the phone. This price set a new record for yellow diamonds sold at auction. This is not the first world auction record broken by Sotheby’s. In 2010, Sotheby’s Geneva sold a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink diamond for over 46 million dollars. This set the world auction record for any diamond and any jewel.
The auction was overall a wonderful success for Sotheby’s Geneva. Including the record-breaking sale of the South African diamond, over 80% of the pieces available found buyers. This includes the sale of an exquisite cushion-shaped 38.88-carat diamond for close to 7 million dollars. If this auction is to be taken as an indication, 2012 is to be a great year for Sotheby’s, and a fantastic year for the diamond industry as a whole.
