Black Diamond With Unknown Origins Sells For $4.5 Million
The world’s largest uncut diamond, better known as ‘The Enigma,’ has officially sold for $4.3 million.
The diamond was put up for sale on Wednesday during an online sale by London’s Sotheby auction house. It didn’t take long for the 555-carat diamond to sell, with an anonymous buyer securing it for a little over $4 million in cryptocurrency.
As a carbonado, this diamond is exceptionally rare. National Geographic explains that carbonados have “a unique combination of physical and chemical features,” unlike more common diamonds. In fact, carbonados are only found in two regions – Brazil and Central America.
Known for their large size, one of the biggest carbonados ever found was the Sergio, a 3,167-carat diamond located in Brazil.
Making carbonados even more unusual, there origins are still not fully understood, leading to a multitude of theories about how these unique diamonds are formed.
The leading theory for the Enigma is that it was formed after a meteorite or asteroid hit Earth over 2.6 billion years ago, NDTV explains. The impact from a meteor could’ve naturally resulted in chemical vapour deposition, thus producing the diamond, while it’s also possible a diamond-bearing asteroid could’ve collided with Earth, lodging it close to the planet’s surface.
The Enigma has largely been guarded from the public in the last two decades, with the identity of its last owner remaining anonymous (as well as their reasons for auctioning off the gem).
However, the black diamond was put on display shortly before the auction in Dubai, Los Angeles, and London. This was only after the rough gem was turned into a 55-face jewel – a feat that took experts three years to complete.
Carbonados are known to be one of the hardest gems to exist, and the Enigma was reportedly no exception, proving to be a challenge for experts when they had to cut into it.
NDTV explains that the diamond’s new shape was inspired by the Hamsa, a Middle Eastern palm-shaped signifying the power of protection as well as closely tied to the number five (which is appropriate given the diamond’s 555 carats and 55 faces).
"Most diamonds are cut into one of 10 popular shapes but the Enigma's form resembles a hand,” Tobias Kormind, the managing director of Mayfair, Europe's largest online jeweller, told NDTV.
We reported in January that the Enigma was set to go on sale, with estimates suggesting it could pick up $6.8 million on the auction block. Though the diamond didn’t secure quite as big a sale, it’s still being reported as one of the most expensive diamonds to ever be sold at auction.
Sources: National Geographic, NDTV,
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