FOTOpeek : The World's Greatest White Diamond. [118-carat diamond]

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York auction house is showing off what it calls NEW YORK (AP) — A New York auction
house is showing off what it calls the
world's greatest white diamond on the
block — a 118-carat stone from Africa the
size of a small egg.

The oval diamond glistened in its glass case
Wednesday at Sotheby's Manhattan
headquarters, not yet mounted after it was
mined and cut two years ago. It will be
auctioned in Hong Kong on Oct. 7 and has a
pre-sale estimate of $28 million to $35
million.

In terms of size, quality, polish and color,
"this is the greatest white diamond we've
ever had the privilege to sell," said Quek
Chin Yeow, deputy chairman of Sotheby's
Asia and an international diamond expert.
The stone was discovered in 2011 as a 299-
carat rough diamond in a southern African
country whose name Sotheby's declined to
disclose.

When asked why they could not give the
exact source, auction house officials said
the owner wishes to remain anonymous and
that was the agreement.

The current record for any white diamond
is $26.7 million. That pear-shaped stone was
over 101 carats. It was sold at Christie's in
Geneva last spring.

Three other white diamonds over 100
carats were auctioned by Sotheby's — in
1990, 1993 and 1995.
The white stone is part of a lineup of jewels
up for auction that also includes a flawless,
round, vivid blue diamond, worth an
estimated $19 million at 7.6 carats.
It's the largest, most significant such
diamond graded by the Gemological
Institute of America.

The reason these stones are going on the
block in Hong Kong, Quek said, is that it has
become a center for jewelry sales and it's
there that the $1.7 million record price per
carat for vivid blue diamonds was set —
with the sale of a 6-carat blue diamond for
$10.2 million in 2011.

Blue diamonds — more rare than white ones
— are from the same color family as the
famed Hope Diamond, though a different
hue. The Hope Diamond, which belongs to
the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
is not for sale. on the block — a 118-carat stone from Africa the size of a small egg.

The oval diamond glistened in its glass case
Wednesday at Sotheby's Manhattan
headquarters, not yet mounted after it was
mined and cut two years ago. It will be
auctioned in Hong Kong on Oct. 7 and has a
pre-sale estimate of $28 million to $35
million.

In terms of size, quality, polish and color,
"this is the greatest white diamond we've
ever had the privilege to sell," said Quek
Chin Yeow, deputy chairman of Sotheby's
Asia and an international diamond expert.
The stone was discovered in 2011 as a 299-
carat rough diamond in a southern African
country whose name Sotheby's declined to
disclose.

When asked why they could not give the
exact source, auction house officials said
the owner wishes to remain anonymous and
that was the agreement.

The current record for any white diamond
is $26.7 million. That pear-shaped stone was
over 101 carats. It was sold at Christie's in
Geneva last spring.

Three other white diamonds over 100
carats were auctioned by Sotheby's — in
1990, 1993 and 1995.
The white stone is part of a lineup of jewels
up for auction that also includes a flawless,
round, vivid blue diamond, worth an
estimated $19 million at 7.6 carats.
It's the largest, most significant such
diamond graded by the Gemological
Institute of America.

The reason these stones are going on the
block in Hong Kong, Quek said, is that it has
become a center for jewelry sales and it's
there that the $1.7 million record price per
carat for vivid blue diamonds was set —
with the sale of a 6-carat blue diamond for
$10.2 million in 2011.

Blue diamonds — more rare than white ones
— are from the same color family as the
famed Hope Diamond, though a different
hue. The Hope Diamond, which belongs to
the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
is not for sale.