A 100.20-carat D-flawless diamond — one of only six 100-carat-plus “perfect” diamonds to hit the auction block in the past 25 years — fetched $22.1 million at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels event in New York yesterday.



The final price was halfway between the auction house’s $19 million to $25 million pre-sale estimate.



The emerald–cut diamond’s per-carat price of $220,558 is a bit lower than the per-carat achievements of two similar behemoths sold in 2013: The 101.73-carat Winston Legacy fetched a record $262,830 per carat, and the 118.28-carat Spectacular Oval Diamond rated narrowly behind at $258,708 per carat.

Still, the $22.1 million selling price of yesterday’s show-stealer was impressive. The winning bid was submitted via telephone, and both the buyer and seller chose to remain anonymous. The bidding process took a mere three minutes.



The previous owner sacrificed exactly one-half of the original 200-carat rough diamond to yield the 100.20-carat flawless gem. The cutting and polishing process took more than one year to complete. The rough diamond was mined by De Beers in South Africa within the past 10 years, according to Sotheby’s.



The diamond is set in a simple platinum ring, size 6 1/2.

“This 100.20 carat diamond is the definition of perfection,” commented Gary Schuler, Head of Sotheby’s Jewelry Department in New York. “The color is whiter than white. It is free of any internal imperfections, and so transparent that I can only compare it to a pool of icy water.”

Before being put up for bid, the diamond starred in a multi-city tour, which included stops in Dubai, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, London and Doha.

Photos courtesy of Sotheby’s.