A necklace featuring a 163.41-carat diamond fetched $33.7 million at Christie’s Geneva sale on Tuesday, setting a record price for a D-color, flawless stone sold at auction, Christie’s said.
The rectangular-cut diamond, set in an emerald-and-diamond necklace, went for $206,266 per carat in front of more than 4,600 visitors at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva, Christie’s reported Wednesday. The diamond, which was the largest of its color and clarity ever presented at an auction, sold to an anonymous telephone bidder.
Swiss-based jeweler de Grisogono designed and manufactured the necklace, having bought the 404.20-carat rough from the Lulo mine in Angola for $16 million. The project was carried out in partnership with Dubai-based diamond manufacturer Nemesis International.
De Grisogono unveiled the jewel, named The Art of de Grisogono, Creation 1, in September. A rare feature of the piece is that the user can wear the center stone either in its necklace form or as a bracelet.
While Christie’s did not publish an estimated selling price for the necklace, Fawaz Gruosi, de Grisogono’s founder and creative director, told Rapaport News last month he expected the jewel to fetch $30 million to $40 milllion.
