You’ll need deep pockets to bid on this bling.
A massive 242-carat diamond is heading to the auction block next month in Dubai. The bidding starts at more than $2 million.
Russian state-controlled diamond producer Alrosa, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds, is offering up the gem at its 100th international auction in Dubai on March 22.
The crystal-clear rough diamond is about the same size as a small egg, making it one of the largest stones Alrosa has mined this century, the company said.
“Rough diamonds, which potentially allow for cutting a polished diamond larger than 100 carats, are extremely rare in nature. Even less often are such gems tendered,” Evgeny Agureev, Alrosa’s head of sales, said in a statement.
The diamond was mined more than a decade ago, but under Russian law, diamonds larger than 50 carats must first be offered to the country’s state-owned repository.
The auction comes months after an “incredibly rare” 14.8 carat purple-pink Russian stone was auctioned off for more than $26 million.
Large diamonds mined in Asia still pale in size to jewels that are unearthed in Africa.
The world’s largest diamond — a 3,106-carat Cullinan — was found in South Africa in 1905.
With Post wires