A 14.82-carat fancy vivid orange diamond will lead Christie’s Magnificent Jewels event.
Christened ‘The Orange,’ the diamond is the largest of its kind ever sold at auction.
Orange diamonds are very rare in nature. Of the few sold at auction, the largest weighed less than 6 carats.
‘The Orange’ is estimated at $17 to $20 million US. The auction takes place in Geneva on Nov. 12.
According to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), strongly coloured diamonds in the orange hue range rarely exceed 3 or 4 carats in size when polished.
“(This diamond) is almost four times larger than that size range. In GIA’s coloured diamond grading system, as the colour appearance of strongly coloured diamonds transitions from orangey-yellow to orange, the occurrence becomes progressively rarer, that is, the less yellow present, the more rarely they occur.”
