Whooping 163.4 carat diamond to go under auction

A 163.4 carat flawless white diamond, the largest ever to come to auction, expected to bring in a excess of A$38m, has been previewed by Christie's in Hong Kong.

Christie's European Chairman and world-wide head of its luxury division, Francois Curiel said he had never come across anything like it.

“Because this is the first time a 163-carat diamond flawless come on the market,” Mr Curiel said.

“The largest stone that ever come up on the market before of this quality was 110-carats. So this is a stone that is 50 percent bigger than the previous one. It's an absolute rarity."

The 404.20-carat rough diamond was found in an Angolan mine in 2016, the largest ever to be found in the country according to Fawaz Gruosi, founder of de Grisogono, the jewellers that acquired the diamond.

“Being 404 carats sometimes you see black right and left, but it was totally clean,” Mr Gruosi said.

“And it was like a miracle…it took time to re-cut it, it took a bit over a year.

“And it came out, something, which was just to look at it the first time. I had some emotion. Which normally I don't have because I am used to all of this.”

The diamond, which can be detached from its white gold, diamond and emerald necklace, goes on the block in Geneva on November 14.