32.77-carat fancy vivid yellow may fetch $6 million

by eyetee | September 6, 2011 12:27 pm

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One of the rarest gemstones in its class is going on Christie’s auction block next month as the star lot of its Magnificent Jewels sale.

A 32.77-carat highly saturated fancy vivid yellow diamond is expected to go for more than $6 million US. About the size and shape of a guitar pick, the unmounted diamond may surpass the per-carat price of $203,000 US achieved for ‘The Golden Drop,’ an 18.49-carat diamond sold at Christie’s in June 1990.

“‘The Vivid Yellow’ literally blazes with colour, unlike any yellow diamond I’ve ever seen,” said Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s Americas’ head of jewellery. “In the world of diamonds, a naturally coloured stone of this incredible colour and size represents a freak occurrence—an extremely rare geological phenomenon. The appearance of this extraordinary gemstone on the market truly represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for top jewellery collectors.”

Yellow diamonds gain their colour from nitrogen replacing carbon atoms in its structure.

Less nitrogen results in a light or faint colour. In the case of ‘The Vivid Yellow’, it absorbed an unusually high level of nitrogen, giving it its saturated yellow colour.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has classified the stone as ‘fancy vivid,’ which is the highest saturation in a coloured diamond. About one in 10 million diamonds qualify as fancy vivid.

The auction will be held Oct. 18 at Christie’s Rockefeller Plaza flagship location in New York City.

Source URL: https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/news/3277-carat-fancy-vivid-yellow-may-fetch-6-million/