A 50.03-carat diamond sold for $2.7 million at a recent Sotheby�s digital auction, setting a record for the highest online price paid for a jewel.

A 50.03-carat diamond sold for $2.7 million at a recent Sotheby�s digital auction, setting a record for the highest online price paid for a jewel.

Sotheby�s offered the round, G-color, VVS2-clarity stone without reserve, estimating it at $2.5 million to $5 million. The company saw �fierce� competition for the diamond as soon as bidding opened, with 30 offers coming in from participants in 7 countries, it said last week. The sale took place from June 9 to 17.

The stone, the highest-valued jewel ever offered in an online sale, was also one of only five round diamonds over 50 carats to be auctioned in the past 15 years, the company added.

�It�s no surprise that...this 50-plus-carat diamond was viewed by dozens of bidders to be the ultimate acquisition,� said Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby�s New York jewelry department. �Despite the challenges over the last 15 months, the market has proven to be incredibly resilient. [Offering] this exceptional stone without reserve...sends a powerful and positive message that online sales represent a key part of our worldwide strategy and the white-diamond market is robust.�

Christie�s held the previous online record for a jewel, garnering $2.1 million for an emerald-cut, 28.86-carat, D-color, VVS1-clarity, type IIa diamond ring it offered last July. Before that, the highest price in an online jewelry auction was $1.3 million, which Sotheby�s achieved in April 2020 for the sale of a Cartier Tutti Frutti bracelet.

Image: The 50.03-carat diamond. (Sotheby�s)