Enigma: rare 555-carat black diamond unveiled in Dubai thought to be billions of years old

The world’s largest Fancy Black Natural Colour diamond is currently on show at the Sotheby’s premises in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

The rare Enigma diamond weighs 555.55 carats and has 55 facets.

“Carbonado black diamonds are exceptionally old,” Sophie Stevens, jewellery specialist at Sotheby’s Dubai, tells The National. “We date them to approximately 2.6 to 3.8 billion years old and we believe they have extraterrestrial origins.

“White diamonds and other coloured diamonds are typically found in Kimberlite rock and they come up to the surface of the Earth through volcanic eruption. Whereas Carbonado black diamonds are found in sedimentary alluvial deposits, which means they are carried down by water, such as streams. They are found very near to, if not on, the Earth’s surface."

Carbonado diamonds are only known to exist in Brazil and the Central African Republic, which lends credit to the theory that they are the result of a meteorite making impact with the Earth billions of years ago, when the two continents were connected to form the supercontinent Rodinia.

The stone's current shape was inspired by the Hamsa, a sign of power, protection and strength

“What we think either happened is an asteroid collided with the Earth and created chemical vapour deposition that formed these diamonds, or indeed that these diamonds were part of the meteorite as it collided with the Earth,” Stevens explains.

Previously unseen on the market, Enigma was unveiled in Dubai on Monday and will be on view in the emirate until Thursday, before it travels to Los Angeles and then London, where it will go on sale in a single-lot online auction between February 3 and 9. There is no reserve price for the auction.

“Because black diamonds haven’t been seen on the market frequently, there are very few past examples at auction. So it’s a good idea to let the market decide and it will be interesting to see what the current demand is. One of the last ones at auction was in 2001 and it was a much smaller stone at 33 carats, while this one is 555.55,” says Stevens.

The Enigma will be auctioned off in February. Ruel Pableo for The National

“We chose Dubai and LA because of the nature and the type of diamond. We think it has a wider appeal to different collectors, not just your traditional gemstone collectors. So we thought Dubai and LA would be perfect to appeal to that wider database.”

Enigma was acquired as a rough stone in the 1990s by its current owner, who proceeded to have it cut into its current shape, which is inspired by the Hamsa, a sign of power, protection and strength.

“What is also exceptional about these black diamonds is they do not have the same chemical make-up as white diamonds, which have a single line of crystal symmetry, making them much easier to cut and facet. These are what we call polycrystalline, so they are made up of many aggregated small diamond crystals. The technical skill required to cut this in the first place, let alone to that very specific weight of 555.55 and with the 55 facets, is just remarkable,” says Stevens.

Sotheby’s is accepting cryptocurrency, in addition to normal currency, for this sale. “We are not accepting crypto on everything. But for very select, unique stones, we are. We did this last year in Hong Kong, with the Key diamond, a D flawless pear-shaped diamond weighing 101.38 carats and it was paid for in cryptocurrency.

“With the Enigma, because we are trying to appeal to beyond the traditional jewellery buyer, maybe these are people involved in the crypto world, or people involved in crypto start-ups. It makes it a bit more appealing to them. We have to adapt with the times, so we are exploring this across the business.”

Pari

Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment

Director: Prosit Roy

Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani

Three stars

The stats

Ship name: MSC Bellissima

Ship class: Meraviglia Class

Delivery date: February 27, 2019

Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT

Passenger capacity: 5,686

Crew members: 1,536

Number of cabins: 2,217

Length: 315.3 metres

Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Rating: 2.5/5

Plastic tipping points

Millennials step up campaign against plastic

Woman with genetic disorder says single use plastics are 'vital' to her life

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips

Rating: 2/5

Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

Asia Cup Qualifier

Venue: Kuala Lumpur

Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September

Fixtures:

Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore

Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman

Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal

Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore

Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong

Thu Sep 6: Final

Asia Cup

Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Schedule: Sep 15-28

Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions