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NEW YORK: Giant diamonds on the auction block have added a shine to the rough trend for luxuries.
Despite the shadow of massive losses on world stock markets, a buyer from the Middle Eastern dropped some six million dollars at the fall of the auctioneer's hammer for a pair of diamonds that weigh close to 200 carats.
The Ponahalo diamonds, meaning "vision," and named after a tribal word spoken by the Venda tribe in the area of South Africa where the gem was mined at De Beers' Venetia mine.
Weighing 316 carats when discovered in its rough form in 2005, the Steinmetz Diamond Group cut the stone to produce four polished diamonds, leaving one in its rough form.
It took eighteen months to shape the two largest diamonds weighing into rectangular-cut gems about the size of chocolates.
The first diamond weighing 70.87 carats sold for US$2.15 million, including commission, while the second stone of 102.11 carats, went for a total of US$4.11 million.
Bucking the wave of gloom that has dimmed luxury sales, the Wednesday auction at Christie's saw a bidding war for the diamonds that jacked up the cost of the gems within seconds, by a million dollars.
Although the winning bid came in anonymously to a telephone operator in the packed auction room, the buyer was apparently so proud that he wanted to be
revealed.
"The buyer of the diamond was Mr Amer Radwan of Dubai and he has asked us to relate to you that he purchased this diamond," auctioneer Rahul Kadakia announced, prompting surprised laughter and a few gasps.
"Dubai, of course Dubai," a tall, tanned and expensively dressed woman muttered knowingly.
The dramatic sale of the two stones came on a day of price collapses on
world stock markets and growing fears of recession in the United States as Wall Street, a short bus ride from Christie's in Manhattan, the Dow Jones Industrial Average registered its steepest percentage drop since 1987.
The diamond industry now fears a painful end to the year, typically the season when dealers and sellers earn most of their money through Christmas and other holiday spending.
One dealer attending the Christie's auction said the market is "dead."
"There's no two ways about it. It's totally different to three months ago," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The auction, which covered everything from Tiffany bracelets to gem-encrusted Montblanc fountain pens, grossed about 29.7 million dollars, Christie's said.
This was short of the expected 35 million dollar haul.
A higher proportion than usual of items under the hammer failed to sell and several of the most glamorous pieces -- such as a piece the catalogue described as a "sensational diamond necklace" -- were withdrawn altogether.
But auctioneer Francois Curiel looked on the bright side.
"It's huge if you think that in a few hours today nearly 30 million dollars worth of diamonds sold in what are hardly great market conditions," he told
AFP.
The Ponahalos, he said, might be a girl's best friend -- or an investor's.
"Given the volatility of the markets lots of people are looking for portable assets. You can have a house, pictures, stocks, bonds, but with these you have six and a half million dollars you can just put in your pocket."
Another silver or more likely diamond-shine, lining to the Christie's sale - - the six million dollar gems have given a boost to a good cause.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Ponahalo Diamonds will be donated to the Diamond Empowerment Fund, which raises money for the development and empowerment of the people and communities in Africa where diamonds are a natural resource.
- AFP/CNA/sf
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