A black diamond weighing 555.55 carats is going up for auction at Sotheby’s and living up to its name “The Enigma.”
Bidding opens on Thursday next week at 6am and closes on Feb. 9, Sotheby’s said, adding that cryptocurrency would be accepted for payment of the diamond.
It is the largest faceted Fancy Black Diamond known to ever appear at auction and was listed as the largest cut diamond in the world in the 2006 edition of Guinness World Records, Sotheby’s said.
Photo: Reuters
Also known as a carbonado diamond, it is possible the black diamond came from outer space. Carbonados of this structure have only been found in Brazil and the Central African Republic, and scientists have long theorized about their origins.
“They are shrouded in mystery as to the origin or formation because there’s not that many of them found on Earth,” said geologist Aaron Celestian, the curator of mineral sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.
Most carbonados are about 2.6 to 3.2 billion years old, Celestian said.
As Earth dates back 4.65 billion years, carbonados were formed when Earth’s plates were still moving and the oxygenation of the atmosphere was taking place, he said.
“We think that they could have formed super deep within the Earth’s interior, far deeper than what we know already of diamonds. There’s hypotheses that suggest that they formed at impact sites where a large asteroid hit Earth,” Celestian said.
“There’s also interstellar hypotheses that suggest that they grew in space and then later fell on the surface of Earth,” he added.
The Enigma has not been exhibited before and is expected to sell for between US$4 million and US$7 million. Its owner has had it for two decades, but little is known about its history.
Celestian believes research into the diamond would reveal a lot about deep-Earth mineralogy or the evolution of the solar system.
The diamond, which was exhibited in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last week, was shown in Beverly Hills, California, this week before heading back to London for the auction.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program to counter US-led threats in comments reported yesterday that were his first direct criticism toward Washington since US president-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory on Oct. 6. At a conference with army officials on Friday, Kim condemned the US for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military cooperation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian NATO” that was escalating tensions and instability in the region. Kim also criticized the US over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion.
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
RSS