Oval diamonds are now one of the most sought after cuts, following a rise in popularity over the last half a decade. The shape has been seen on the engagement fingers of Hailey Bieber and Jerry Hall and Blake Lively.
It comes as no surprise, that one of the most precious diamonds to go to auction (without reserve), has recently sold quickly through auction house Sotheby’s. The highly important 102.39-carat D colour flawless oval diamond.
According to Sotheby’s auction house, the winning bid, though, came over the phone from a private collector in Japan, who, shortly after the sale, renamed the diamond the ‘Maiko Star’, after his second daughter.
This now establishes a family tradition: last year, the same collector purchased another important diamond from Sotheby’s, naming it the ‘Manami Star’, after his eldest daughter, stated the House.
The highly sought after diamond, is perfect according to every critical criterion, the gem has achieved the highest rankings under each of the standards by which the quality of a diamond is judged (‘the four Cs’).
The “Maiko Star” is D colour (the highest grade for a white diamond); of exceptional clarity (it is completely flawless, both internally and externally), and has excellent polish and symmetry, the most sought-after grading for the oval shape category.
The oval diamond belongs to the rare subgroup comprising less than 2% of all gem diamonds, known as Type IIa. Diamonds in this group are the most chemically pure type of diamond and often have exceptional optical transparency.
The 102.39 carat “Maiko Star” was cut from a 271-carat rough discovered by De Beers Group in the Victor Mine, Ontario, Canada (pictured below) in 2018. The mine opened in 2008 and is now being decommissioned.
Following its discovery, the rough was cut and polished over a year by Diacore, world-leading specialists in sourcing, cutting and polishing extraordinary diamonds, to bring out its best brilliance, fire and scintillation.
“It has been fascinating to embark on this project. We are of course delighted with the results and the positive message the sale sends out to the market. The result is also testament to the maestria of our diamond cutters: Only eight D colour Internally Flawless or Flawless white diamonds over 100 carats ever sold at auction, six of them by Diacore.” – Nir Livnat, Chairman of Diacore
Images: Sotheby’s
By Amanda Johnstone
Haute Today 