Largest Diamond in Auction History Slated To Fetch Upwards of $30 Million USD at Christie's

Christie’s is slated to sell the largest diamond in auction history at its upcoming Spring sale. Dubbed “The Rock,” the impressive 228.31-carat stone has an estimated value of $20 million USD to $30 million USD and has only officially passed through three previous owners’ hands.

Christie’s first heard of the stone from its original owner around two decades ago and was involved with the first transaction of the stone. Rahul Kadakia told Robb Report, “I’ve been at Christie’s for 25 years and Christies 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.” Kadakia gave additional information surrounding the background of the sale stating, “The current owner decided that the market is quite healthy, which is true. The diamond market is in a particularly active space right now. Our auction sales last year, doubled the sales from 2020.”

As per the details of the stone, the pear-shaped diamond was mined and polished in South Africa and possesses a G Color. A VS1 clarity stone, it is reportedly the largest existing D-Z color pear-shaped diamond ever graded by the GIA laboratory. Previously, the largest diamond sold at Christie’s was a 163.41-carat diamond which garnered a sale of $33,701,000 USD in 2017. Kadakia calls the stone priceless sharing, “What’s rare apart from the size — it’s so large, the size of an egg.” Commenting on the rarity of the diamond, Kadakia states, “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.”

In other Christie’s news, the auction house is selling fRiENDSiES NFT collection by FriendsWithYou.