A truly out-of-this-world 555,55-carat black diamond has been discovered by auction house Sotheby's Dubai.
The rare gem, which Sotheby's has named "Enigma", is believed to have come from space - either created by a meteorite impact or a "diamond-bearing" asteroid that crashed into Earth.
A natural-faced black diamond of this size is an "extremely rare occurrence," according to Sotheby's, which expects it to fetch up to $6.8 million when it goes up for sale in London in February, after going on display in Dubai. and Los Angelos, reports cnn.
Black diamonds, also known as Carbonado diamonds, can be dated between 2.6 and 3.8 billion years ago and have trace amounts of nitrogen and hydrogen – elements found in interstellar space. They also contain osbornite, a mineral present in meteorites.
Nikita Binani, jewelry specialist at Sotheby's in London, called the diamond "a real natural phenomenon", Telegrafi reports.
"Its sale represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the rarest billion-year-old cosmic wonders known to mankind," she said in a press release.
The shape of the diamond is inspired by the Middle Eastern palm symbol of the Hamsa, a sign of protection, meaning five in Arabic. According to the auctioneer, thread five runs throughout the stone. In addition to its 555,55 carats, it also contains exactly 55 aspects or faces.
Black diamonds have sold in the past for prices exceeding $13,600 per carat. The diamond will be open for online bidding from February 3 to 9, and the auction house said it will accept cryptocurrency as payment.
The move follows the sale of a 101-carat diamond, dubbed “The Key 10138,” which became the most expensive gem ever bought with cryptocurrency when it was sold last year, according to Sotheby's.
The pear-shaped gemstone sold for $12.3 million after the auctioneer announced it was accepting bids in bitcoin and ethereum in addition to traditional forms of payment. Sotheby's would not disclose which of the two cryptocurrencies was used to make the purchase.
A number of auction houses have begun to welcome cryptocurrencies for big-ticket items, which have included paintings and NFTs – blockchain-backed tokens that are increasingly used to transfer ownership of digital artworks and collectibles. /Telegraph/
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