The buyer acquired lot 494 — a diamond ring — for 1,272,500 Swiss francs (Dh4.7 million), via an online bid. The ring features a square cut-cornered diamond weighing just over 33 carats, mounted in gold. Report no 1186573968 from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) verifies that the diamond is I colour, VVS2 clarity.
"The UAE is a very important market for us and has been for a very long time," Rahul Kadakia, the international head of jewellery of Christie's, who presided over the auction, told The National.
The undeniable highlight of the sale, however, was Creation I, a necklace by Geneva-based jewellery brand de Grisogono. The centrepiece of the necklace is a 163.41-carat gemstone, which became the largest D flawless diamond ever to be offered at auction when it went under the hammer on November 15.
The stone was extracted from a 404.20-carat rough stone discovered in Angola — the 27th largest rough white diamond ever to be found.
In a design typical of de Grisogono's bold, highly contemporary aesthetic, the diamond was artfully combined with rows of pear-shaped emeralds and baguette-cut diamonds — and the end result garnered an impressive 33.5 million francs, setting a new world auction record.
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