118卡無瑕鑽石下月本港拍賣或創最高價

一顆重超過 118卡的鑽石將在本港拍賣，預料成交價可高達三千五百萬美元，即接近二億八千萬港元，將打破拍賣史上最高價紀錄。  這顆橢圓鑽石有接近一隻雞蛋大小，是拍賣史上最大的D色，即最白的完美無瑕鑽石， 重118.28卡，打磨及對稱度都屬極佳級別。原石重達299卡，2011年在非洲南部開採。拍賣行預料成交價介乎二千八百萬至三千五百萬美元，即是可以高達二億八千萬港元。  拍賣的另一個主角是這顆稀有的7.59卡藍鑽，被美國寶石學院評為史上最大圓形藍鑽。拍賣行指圓形切割在白鑽上較常見，但因耗料極多用於珍貴彩鑽上是極罕見。估計拍賣價超過一千九百萬美元，即約一億四千萬港元。兩顆鑽石將巡迴展出，於下月在本港拍賣。

A New York auction house is showing off what it calls the world's greatest white diamond on the block -- a 118-carat stone from Africa the size of a small egg.

The oval diamond glistened in its glass case Wednesday at Sotheby's Manhattan headquarters, not yet mounted after it was mined and cut two years ago. It will be auctioned in Hong Kong on Oct. 7 and has a pre-sale estimate of $28 million to $35 million.

In terms of size, quality, polish and color, "this is the greatest white diamond we've ever had the privilege to sell," said Quek Chin Yeow, deputy chairman of Sotheby's Asia and an international diamond expert.

The stone was discovered in 2011 as a 299-carat rough diamond in a southern African country whose name Sotheby's declined to disclose.

When asked why they could not give the exact source, auction house officials said the owner wishes to remain anonymous and that was the agreement.

The current record for any white diamond is $26.7 million. That pear-shaped stone was over 101 carats. It was sold at Christie's in Geneva last spring.

Three other white diamonds over 100 carats were auctioned by Sotheby's -- in 1990, 1993 and 1995.

The white stone is part of a lineup of jewels up for auction that also includes a flawless, round, vivid blue diamond, worth an estimated $19 million at 7.6 carats.

It's the largest, most significant such diamond graded by the Gemological Institute of America.

The reason these stones are going on the block in Hong Kong, Quek said, is that it has become a center for jewelry sales and it's there that the $1.7 million record price per carat for vivid blue diamonds was set -- with the sale of a 6-carat blue diamond for $10.2 million in 2011.

Blue diamonds -- more rare than white ones -- are from the same color family as the famed Hope Diamond, though a different hue. The Hope Diamond, which belongs to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, is not for sale.