Another day, another massive fancy-colored diamond hits the auction block.
This week, just days after it revealed plans to sell a collection of vivid blue diamonds from De Beers, Sotheby’s announced that it will also sell a 303.10-carat stone known as the Golden Canary at its Magnificent Jewels sale in December.
The pear-shaped gem, which boasts a fancy deep brownish-yellow hue, is one of the largest polished diamonds in the world and the largest flawless diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America, or GIA. Because of its rarity (yellow diamonds only make up .006 percent of diamonds in the world) size and quality, it’s expected to fetch in excess of US$15 million.
“The Golden Canary is one of the most exquisite diamonds ever to be discovered, not only for its sheer size and intensity in color but for its stunning beauty that is sure to captivate collectors around the world,” says Quig Bruning, head of jewelry for Sotheby’s America, in a press statement. “Sotheby’s is privileged to help write the next chapter for this incomparable, reborn gem.”
The diamond’s history dates back to the 1980s, when a young girl in the Democratic Republic of Congo discovered the stone in a pile of rubble and gave it to her uncle. According to Sotheby’s, the miners at a local mine discarded it because they didn’t think it was diamond-bearing. The girl gave it to her uncle, who sold what would turn out to be a massive 890-carat diamond to local dealers.
The stone was presented to the public in 1984 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Over the next five years, the diamond was cut into 15 polished stones, the largest of which, weighing 407.49 carats, became known as the “Incomparable.” Years later, the GIA made the decision to re-cut this stone to enhance its color and vibrancy. In a recent monograph, the association wrote, “The re-cut of the Incomparable to the current 303.10-carat pear modified brilliant is to look at the diamond as new; a re-creation bringing to bear the advances in technology, computer modeling and visual evaluation available today.”
Before the diamond goes under the hammer, it will embark on a world tour of Sotheby’s international galleries, making stops in Dubai, Taipei, Geneva and Hong Kong. Luckily, the auction will happen right on time for you to make the dreams of any jewelry collectors on your list come true.
