The current owner of this 100-carat emerald-cut diamond spent an entire year studying, cutting and polishing the rough to create the “perfect” stone. Sotheby’s will attempt to sell the stone later this month.
The largest “perfect” emerald-cut diamond ever offered at auction is expected to sell for as much as $25 million later this month at Sotheby’s New York auction.
The 100-carat emerald-cut stone is of D color and internally flawless. Sotheby’s notes that, “at this impressive scale, diamonds of this exceptional quality … are incredibly rare, and considered ‘perfect.’”
The stone was cut from a 200-carat piece of rough mined by De Beers in southern Africa.
Overall, Sotheby’s April 21 sale of Magnificent Jewels in New York is estimated to achieve in excess of $50 million. The 350-lot sale includes colored diamonds, Art Deco jewels, Kashmir sapphires and pieces with provenance.
In addition to the “perfect diamond, the lots include a 6.24-carat pear-shaped fancy purplish-pink diamond set in platinum and flanked by two cushion-cut Kashmir sapphires. Another colored diamond, this one a 6.06-carat fancy blue set in platinum and rose gold with pink-hued diamonds, also will be offered at the sale. Both rings are expected to fetch more than $3.5 million.
Among the jewels of provenance is a platinum, emerald and diamond pendant from the estate of Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, wife of American industrialist and pioneering developer Henry Flagler. The piece has a pre-sale high estimate of $1.5 million.
