De Grisogono Diamond Set to Sell for Over $30M Emerald-Cut 163ct. Jewel Unveiled as Bespoke Necklace or Bracelet.

The owners of a historic emerald-cut diamond are expecting the jewel to sell at a price above $30 million when it goes under the hammer at Christie’s Geneva next month. 

The 163-carat, D-flawless diamond, known as The Art of de Grisogono, Creation 1, was displayed at the Dubai Diamond Conference on Tuesday, initially as a necklace pendant and then as the centerpiece of a bracelet (pictured above). 

The transformation was a surprise part in the display, as the diamond had previously only been unveiled as part of a necklace featuring another 18 emerald-cut diamonds and two rows of pear-shaped emeralds.  

“We wanted to provide the lucky woman who possesses this work of art with an option of how to wear it,” Fawaz Gruosi, founder and creative director of de Grisogono, told Rapaport News at the conference. “It can be part of the necklace or the bracelet.”

Christie’s has not provided a pre-sale estimate for the piece, billed as the largest emerald-cut, D-color, flawless diamond ever to go on auction. However, Gruosi told Rapaport News he had a price of $30 million to $40 million in mind.  

The polished diamond came from a 404-carat rough stone mined at the Lulo mine in Angola, which the Swiss jeweler bought for $16 million in partnership with Nemesis International, a Dubai-based diamond manufacturer.

In its rough form, the stone had an extraordinary purity, said Konema Mwenenge, CEO of Nemesis. Some 14 craftsmen worked on the diamond, primarily in New York. Another four or five smaller satellite stones were also polished from the rough, but will be sold separately, Mwenenge added.  

The decision to sell the stones as independent pieces, rather than as a set, is part of de Grisogono’s and Nemesis’s strategy to present truly special diamonds as works of art, Mwenenge noted. In that spirit, he explained, the sale of Creation 1 is not just about price.  

“It’s not only about the diamond,” added David Warren, Christie’s Middle East head of jewelry. “It’s about an artistic jewel.” 

Since its unveiling in Hong Kong in September, The Art of de Grisogono, Creation 1 has set out on a world tour that has so far included a stop in both London and Dubai. A New York showcasing is scheduled for November 4 and 5, and the final stop will be in Switzerland the week before the November 14 sale.