Black diamond, largest ever cut, sold

LONDON

“The Enigma,” the world’s largest known cut diamond at 555 carats, went under the hammer in London on Feb. 9 for 3.16 million British pounds ($4.3 million, 3.8 million euros) having recently gone on display for the first time.

The rare black, or carbanado, diamond is believed to have been created when a meteorite or an asteroid hit Earth more than 2.6 billion years ago.

The 555.55 carat, 55-faced diamond reached £3.16 million, excluding the buyer’s premium, at an online sale held by London’s renowned Sotheby’s auction house. Carbonados are usually found close to the Earth’s surface, suggesting extraterrestrial origins.

“It is thought that this specific type of black diamond was created either from meteoric impacts producing natural chemical vapor deposition or an extraterrestrial origin -- from supernovae explosions that formed diamond-bearing asteroids which ultimately collided with the Earth,” said the auction house.

One of the most difficult substances to cut, the diamond had never previously been shown by its unnamed owner of the past 20 years. Experts took three years turning the rough diamond into a 55-face jewel.