The largest diamond to date offered at auction was sold in Geneva for almost $34 million, which is the world record, said Christie’s auction house.
An extraordinary 163.41-carat flawless D color diamond, suspended from an emerald and diamond necklace called The Art of Grisogono, was sold for $33,8 million (€28,7 million), the auction house said, adding this is a record price for such a diamond.
The Art of Grisogono
Christie’s was expecting the diamond of “glamorous beauty and transparency” dug up in Angola in February 2016 to be sold for about $25 million.
For its grinding it took 1,700 hours and 14 jewels specialists.
At the same auction was sold the famous diamond called Cardinal Mazarin, with the final price tag after taxes and commissions ticking in at $14.5 million (€12.3 million). This 19-carat pink diamond once belonged to French kings and emperors, including Napoleon.
The Art of Grisogono
The gem was named after Cardinal Mazarin, an Italian cardinal and diplomat, as well as a great art collector, who served as chief minister under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, and who bequeathed it and other diamonds to the Sun King in his will.
The pink stone, originally dug out of the ancient mines of Golconda in south-central India, sparkled on the crowns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, who was guillotined during the French Revolution.
After the death, Mazarin left the gem to Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great or the Sun King.
