And this is supposed to be the largest cut diamond in the world? Anyone who equates diamonds with sparkling stones will be disappointed. "The Enigma", as it is called, only shines in matt black and radiates a mysterious aura. Enigma is Greek and appropriately means enigma. And many of them surround the boulder. It is known that the diamond weighs exactly 555.55 carats. It is also in the Guinness Book of Records. Now it will be exhibited for the first time at the Sotheby's auction house in Dubai, followed by London and Los Angeles. The stone is then to be auctioned off in February, albeit purely online. Sotheby's estimates it could fetch a good $5 million, but other estimates put it at $7 million. It is not possible to assess this more preciselysince the last comparable diamond was auctioned 20 years ago.

Franz Nestler

Editor in Business.

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"The Enigma" is a so-called carbonado, a black diamond.

They are extremely rare and are among the oldest diamonds in the world.

While Earth was formed around 4.6 billion years ago, experts believe the rare black diamond is between 2.6 and 3.8 billion years old and was formed when a meteorite or asteroid hit Earth.

Researchers are on the trail of the black diamond

However, this is not known for certain either: the pores of a carbonado contain hydrogen and are filled with quartz, which makes an infrared spectrum analysis of its origin impossible. University of Miami researchers ground up carbonado samples and then removed quartz with acids. Thereafter, the samples were irradiated with synchrotron radiation. The spectrum was then at least similar to that of diamonds from meteorites. Incidentally, such old diamonds cannot be cut in the conventional way, but must be laboriously processed with lasers.

As mysterious as he shines and his name is, so is his story.

It is not known who has the stone auctioned off or why.

Its current owner bought it in the 1990s.

It has been expertly worked at 555.55 carats to have 55 facets and the shape of a palm-shaped Hamsa symbol, which represents power, protection and strength in the Gulf region.

In addition, Hamsa stands for the five, which obviously has a great meaning for the owner.

The five refers to the five fingers of the Hamsa.

In Islamic belief, the number can have a protective function or be used as a threat.

You can pay with cryptocurrencies

The location is also unknown. The first carbonados were discovered in Brazil. There were other finds in the neighboring countries of Venezuela and Guyana, as well as in Australia, Asia and Africa.

To top off the mystery, Sotheby's even accepts cryptocurrencies for purchases.

“We don't accept cryptocurrencies for everything.

But for selected, unique stones, we do. We trialled this in Hong Kong last year with a 101.38-carat diamond, and it was also paid for in cryptocurrencies,” explains a Sotheby's spokeswoman.

"We're trying it again with the Enigma because we want to appeal outside of classic gemstone buyers," said the spokeswoman.

"Maybe they are in the crypto world, and that's why it can be so interesting for them," says the spokeswoman.

You have to keep up with the times.