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)