Sun-Drop Diamond Earns $12.3 Million At Auction

The 110-carat Sun-Drop diamond fetched $12.3 million at a Sotheby’s auction this week, a new record for a diamond of it’s kind and the eighth most expensive price ever paid for a diamond.

Found in South Africa last year the diamond has received a “fancy, vivid yellow” grading, the highest possible grading for its color type.

According to the BBC the gem’s color was created when nitrogen became trapped in the diamonds carbon molecules and then hardened over millions of years.

Speaking about the price of the diamond a Sotheby’s exec told Forbes:

“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.”

The auction company expected the diamond to sell around it’s final pricing although some analysts had predicted a far higher selling price of $46 million, the same price a rare pink diamond sold for last year.

As one Geneva jewel trader pointed out:

“When it gets to this price there are only half a dozen people who can actually participate,” and “If they decide they already have a similar stone, then the price doesn’t go up.”

Do you think the $12.3 million buying price is a bit absurd given the down economy?