The Sun-Drop Diamond, considered the largest known pear-shaped fancy vivid yellow diamond in the world, sold for $12.3 million Tuesday atSotheby’sSale of Magnificent Jewels in Geneva.
The auction house said the price paid for the 110.03-carat gem set a world auction record for yellow diamonds. The previous record for a yellow diamond was achieved by “The Vivid Yellow,” a 32.77-carat pear‐shaped fancy vivid yellow diamond, VS2, which sold for nearly $6.6 million at Christie’sNew Yorkin October. The previous world auction record price per carat for an emerald was achieved by a 10-carat emerald ring, sold for $113,000 per carat, at Christie’s Hong Kong in May 2000.
The Sun-Drop is graded fancy vivid yellow, the highest color grading for a yellow diamond, and has a purity of VVS1. The stone wasexhibited earlier this year at London’s Natural History Museum. The ɾօυɢҺ for the Sun‐Drop was discovered in South Africa in 2010, and was cut and polished by CoraInternational, a New York diamond manufacturer.
The sale of diamonds, gemstones and jewelry took in nearly $70.2 million with a sell‐thɾօυɢҺ rate of 82 percent by lot. It was one of Sotheby’s highest totals ever for a jewelry auction.
“We are thrilled with the price achieved by this spectacular daffodil yellow diamond; it is one of the most impressive I have had the pleasure of selling,” said David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Department in Europe and the Middle East and co‐chairman of Sotheby’s Switzerland. “Today’s strong sell‐thɾօυɢҺ rates are a reflection of the continued strength and resilience of the international jewelry market.”
