A BILLION-year-old 555-carat diamond that has baffled scientists has been flogged to a mystery buyer for an eye-watering £3.16million in cryptocurrency.
The peculiar black 55-side gem – aptly named The Engima as its origins remain unclear – is thought to be the world’s largest diamond and has never before been sold.
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Dubbed a “cosmic wonder” and “a treasure from interstellar space” by auctioneers Sotheby’s, the origins of the diamond are thought to be from outer space.
Jet-black diamonds of this kind are believed to have formed in an unknown event some 3.8 to 2.6billion years ago.
A note from the auction house reads: “It is thought that this specific type of black diamond was created either from meteoric impacts producing natural chemical vapour deposition or an extraterrestrial origin – from supernovae explosions that formed diamond-bearing asteroids which ultimately collided with the Earth.”
The Enigma has previously never been sold on the market and has been exhibited in Dubai, Los Angeles and London.
But Sotheby’s has revealed the elegant jewel has been bought for £3.16million – with the buyer “opting to use cryptocurrency for the purchase”.
Tobias Kormind, managing director of Mayfair-based 77 Diamonds, said: “The Enigma is a diamond with unparalleled bragging rights.
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”It’s the ultimate party trick – just imagine revealing to your guests you are the owner of the world’s largest cut diamond.
”The size, shape and source of the Enigma diamond make it groundbreaking and amazing. ”
The Enigma is a carbonado – a type of diamond usually used in industrial drilling due to their extraordinary hardness.
One of the rarest forms of diamond, and as they contain a mineral only found in meteors – known as osbornite – it is believed they originate from outer space.
The Enigma’s new owner has not been identified by Sotheby’s, but entrepreneur Richard Heart claimed on Twitter he had bagged the gem.
He boasted to his 182,000 followers that “as soon as the payment has gone through and possession’s been taken”, it will be renamed the “HEX.com diamond” – after the blockchain platform he founded.
The precious gem was listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest diamond in 2006.
Stephen Haggerty, a professor of earth and environment at Florida International University, has said he is convinced of the diamond’s “non-Earth genesis.”
“There has not been a single, scientifically sound alternative to the [extraterrestrial] origin of carbonado,” he added.
Some popular theories include the diamond breaking off a part of an asteroid that collided with Earth and being born from a meteoric impact.
The gemstone is also cut with 55 facets in honor of the Middle Eastern Hamsa: a palm-shaped amulet meant to serve as protection for all who wear it.
