Bonham’s auction of Fine Jewelry will feature a rare Heart-shaped, 98-carat natural Black Diamond. Cut from a piece of rough weighing 320 carats in the state of Bahia, Brazil, in 1951, the diamond is estimated to realize $70,000-$90,000.
98-carat Heart-shaped Black Diamond
Unlike diamonds formed deep under the earths’ surface in an environment of tremendous pressure and heat, black diamonds are uniquely found in surface alluvial deposits only in Brazil and the Central African Republic, and contain gases indicating their possible extra-terrestrial origins. It is not unusual to suffer significant weight loss during cutting black diamonds. They are porous, and difficult to cut and polish due to their lack of cleavage plane, requiring a time-consuming process to fashion the polycrystalline rough into faceted gemstones.
This rare 98-carat unmounted natural black diamond will be offered at Bonham’s Fine Jewelry auction on October, 19tj in New York. [Bonham’s]
98-carat Heart-shaped Black Diamond
