100-Carat Diamond Auction At Sotheby’s New York Is Actually Half-Sized [Video]

A 100-carat diamond up for auction at Sotheby’s New York is attracting a lot of attention because the “perfect” diamond is said to be internally flawless, which will produce a lot of those shinies for the ladies. But the interesting part is that this 100-carat diamond started its journey at about double the size.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, when a Gone With The Wind outfit sold at auction, Scarlett O’ Hara’s dress went for an amazing amount of money considering the collector rescued it out of the trash heap.

Before the 100-carat diamond auction was ever a twinkle in our eyes, the De Beers company mined the large, rough diamond in South Africa. The original weight was more than a 200-carat diamond, but Gary Schuler, the head of Sotheby’s jewelery department in New York, says the uncut diamond was whittled down to its current size over a period of a year. But why was this 200-carat diamond essentially cut in half?

“A classic emerald cut like this one allows for a wide expanse of pure material to be viewed without the distraction of a more complex facet arrangement,” Schuler explains. “It’s almost like looking at the glimmer of a reflecting pool.”

Regardless of its history, Lisa Hubbard, Chairman of North and South America for Sotheby’s International Jewelry Division, notes, “The quality puts it in an asset class of its own” and they purposefully went with a classic shape so that someone may actually wear the thing on their hand without seeming absolutely garish. Schuler notes that the 100-carat diamond auction is drawing most of the attention because of the size in comparison to the finger it rests upon.

“People everywhere have been drawn to it from across the room and they are in awe of its size, particularly when they put it on their hand,” Schuler says, according to CNN. “They can’t believe there’s a diamond this pure of such impressive scale.”

The 100-cart diamond auction is fairly unique since only five other flawless diamonds weighing over 100 carats have ever been sold at auction. The color is described as “whiter than white,” and “it’s free of any internal imperfections.” In 2013, Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold a 118.28 carat oval diamond for $30.6 million, so it’s expected the latest auction will fetch around $25 million.

[Image via Sotheby’s New York]