LARGEST CUT DIAMOND EVER SOLD AT AUCTION

The largest cut diamond that has ever been sold at an auction, went under the hammer this week.

The Enigma was part of an auction held in London on Wednesday. It went on display for the first time only recently but managed to sell for R65 million. Lower than expected.

The rare black, or carbonado, diamond is believed to have been created when a meteorite or an asteroid hit Earth more than 2.3 billion years ago, reports News24.

Sotheby’s auction house said in a statement “it is thought that this specific type of black diamond was created either from meteoric impacts producing natural chemical vapour deposition or an extra-terrestrial origin, from supernovae explosions that formed diamond-bearing asteroids which ultimately collided with the Earth”.

The Enigma was listed by Guinness World Records in 2006 as the largest-known cut diamond in the world. The listing said that even though it’s not a gem-quality diamond and that carbonados are not normally used in jewellery or sold at auction, they have grown in popularity recently.

Image credit: Forbes