Auctions

Christie’s to auction 14-carat fancy vivid orange

AuctionsApr 29, 2016

Christie’s to auction 14-carat fancy vivid orange

Next month, a diamond known simply as “The Orange” will go up on the block at Christie’s, with buyers expected to pay as much as $20 million for stone.


"The Orange" is a pear-shaped, 14.82-carat VS1 type IIa fancy vivid orange diamond that will be offered at Christie's Nov. 12 sale in Geneva.
Geneva--Next month, a diamond known simply as “The Orange” will go up on the block at Christie’s, with buyers expected to pay as much as $20 million for stone.

The 14.82-carat diamond is the largest fancy vivid orange diamond ever to appear at auction and, according to Christie’s, is “by far” the largest fancy vivid orange diamond in the world.

It will be offered for sale as part of Christie’s Nov. 12 auction in Geneva.

Pure orange diamonds, which gemologist Edwin Streeter called “fire diamonds” in his 1882 book “The Great Diamonds of the World,” are exceptionally rare in nature.

According to the Gemological Institute of America, strongly colored diamonds in the orange hue range are rarely bigger than three or four carats once polished.

 The Orange is more than four times that size, and is more than twice the size of the very few fancy vivid orange diamonds ever sold at auction, the largest of which was smaller than 6 carats, Christie’s said.

Christie’s Nov. 12 auction in Geneva has more than 280 lots in total.

As previously reported, the sale includes pieces that once belonged to style icon Hélène Rochas and Bolivian tycoon Simón Itturi Patiño, known as “The Andean Rockefeller.”

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.

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