the rock huge diamond 228.3 carat

The Unique 228.3-Carat Gem That Could Rake In $30 Million

A 228.31-carat diamond could break several auction records come spring: according to Robb Report,  “The Rock” – the largest white diamond to ever be offered at auction – could sell for $20 million to $30 million.

 

“I’ve been at Christie’s for 25 years and Christie’s has been around for 256 years and in all of this time, this is the largest white diamond that’s ever come up for sale at auction,” Rahul Kadakia, the international head of jewelry for Christie’s Rahul Kadakia. told Robb Report, “that’s quite something. It’s really a unicorn.”

 

According to Kadakia, the 228.31-carat behemoth has only passed through three previous owners’ hands. “The current owner decided that the market is quite healthy, which is true,” Kadakia said. “The diamond market is in a particularly active space right now. Our auction sales last year, doubled the sales from 2020.”

 

“The Rock” will be sold at a Christie’s auction in Switzerland on May 11, 2022.

 

Auction jewelry watch christies
Credit: Gena Melendrez / shutterstock.com

 

The pear-shaped gem was mined and polished in South Africa and is graded a G color, VS1 clarity stone by the GIA. It is the largest existing D-Z color pear-shaped diamond ever graded by the GIA laboratory. 

 

“Honestly, the stone has no price,” Kadakia said. “What’s rare apart from the size—it’s so large, the size of an egg—is, let’s say you have five collectors trying to buy the stone, and the day after the sale and one of those clients that didn’t buy it comes back and says, ‘Look, buyer’s remorse. Can you find me another stone?’ It took us 256 years to find one. Where is the other stone? I don’t know. That’s what’s rare about it.”

 

Christie's auction
Credit: Christie’s

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