The 110.3-carat Sun-Drop diamond, a pear-shaped yellow discovered in South Africa, sold for a record $12.4 million at auction on Tuesday at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva.
Sotheby’s had given the diamond a presale estimate of $11 million to $15 million.
“It’s a record for a yellow diamond at auction,” said David Bennett, the head of Sotheby’s jewelry division, adding that it was the eighth most expensive diamond ever sold at auction.
“When it gets to this price there are only half a dozen people who can actually participate,” said Mourad Hatik, a Geneva jewel trader cited by Associated Press. “If they decide they already have a similar stone, then the price doesn’t go up.”
Other highlights of the $70 million sale included a white cushion-shaped diamond weighing 38.88 carats that sold for almost $7 million, including commission.
Meanwhile, a 12.01-carat emerald from Colombia’s Muzo mine sold for $1.4 million, while a blue diamond ring was bought for $4.3 million.
Nonetheless, some precious jewels, including an elaborate gold and diamond ‘peace dove’ brooch, a blue diamond ring estimated at over $7.5 million, and a suite of imperial jewels, were not sold due to bids that came in too low.
The set comprised a necklace, brooch and pair of earrings presented to the Ottoman Empire’s Sultan Abdul Hamid II to the wife of the Khedive of Egypt in the late 19th century. Sotheby’s said some of the gems may have been part of a peace offering given by Russian Czar Peter the Great’s wife Catherine to Ottoman Sultan Ahmed II in 1711.
A bid of $9.3 million was judged as too low.