A 555.55 carat black diamond that is “out of this world” has been unveiled by Sotheby’s Dubai auction house.
The rare gem, dubbed by Sotheby’s “The Enigma”, may have come from space – either created by a meteoric impact or from a diamond-bearing asteroid that collided with Earth.
A faceted natural black diamond of this size is an “extremely rare occurrence”, according to the auction house, and is expected to sell for approximately £5 million when it goes to the hammer. in London in February, after being shown in Dubai and Los Angeles.
Black diamonds, also known as carbon diamonds, can be between 2.6 and 3.8 billion years old and have traces of nitrogen and hydrogen – elements found in interstellar space. They also contain osbornite, a mineral present in meteorites.
Nikita Binan, a jewelry specialist at Sotheby’s in London, called the diamond a “true natural phenomenon”.
“Its sale represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the rarest, billion-year-old wonders known to mankind,” she said in a press release on Monday.
The diamond’s shape is inspired by the Hamsa symbol, popular in the Middle East, a sign of protection, which means “five” in Arabic. The number five theme is all over the stone, according to the auctioneer. In addition to its 555.55 carats, it also has exactly 55 facets.
Faceted black diamonds have been sold in the past for prices in excess of £10,000 per carat, Sotheby’s told CNN.
The diamond will be available for online bidding between February 3rd and 9th, and the auction house has stated that it will accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.
The news follows the sale of a 101-carat diamond, called “The Key 10138,” which became the most expensive gem ever purchased using cryptocurrencies when sold last year, according to Sotheby’s.
The pear-shaped gemstone was sold for the equivalent of US$12.3 million (about 67.2 million reais), after the auctioneer announced that it would accept offers made in bitcoin and ethereum, in addition to traditional forms of payment. Sotheby’s did not disclose which of the two currencies was used to make the purchase.
A number of specialist auction companies are accommodating cryptocurrencies for high-value items, which include paintings and NFTs – the blockchain-based tokens that are increasingly being used to gain ownership of virtual artworks and collectibles. Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart told CNN in April 2021 who believed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies were opening up the art market.
This content was originally created in English.
original version
Reference: CNN Brasil
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