Private collector buys multi-million-dollar diamond for second year in a row

Hong Kong - A rare diamond sold for $15.7 million at an online auction in Hong Kong on Monday.

The Maiko Star is a 102-carat white diamond (stock image).
The Maiko Star is a 102-carat white diamond (stock image).  © lightfieldstudios/123RF

An unnamed telephone bidder from Japan got the treasure for HK$122 million in an auction held online by Sotheby's due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The broker called the 102-carat white diamond "the best of the best" and "completely flawless."

The diamond was discovered in a shut-down Canadian mine in 2018 as an originally 271-carat stone.

Brazilian man blows himself up after trying to enter supreme court building
World Brazilian man blows himself up after trying to enter supreme court building

Experts said it was a "bargain" because it was offered without a reserve price – the minimum price a seller is willing to accept.

Meanwhile, the diamond’s new owner named the stone Maiko Star after his second daughter. Last year, the same person bought another 88.22-carat stone brokered by Sotheby’s and named it the Manami Star for his eldest daughter.

This was only the eighth time a 100-plus carat diamond had been sold. They are considered perfect diamonds and are also called paragons. The most expensive of them fetched $25 million.

Cover photo: lightfieldstudios/123RF

More on World: