Auction house Sotheby’s Dubai has unveiled a diamond that’s literally from out of this world.
Sotheby’s calls the 555.55-carat black diamond — believed to have come from outer space — “The Enigma.” The rare gem was shown off on Monday to journalists as part of a tour in Dubai and Los Angeles before it is due to be auctioned off in February in London.
Sotheby’s expects the diamond to be sold for at least 5 million British pounds ($6.8 million). The auction house plans to accept cryptocurrency as a possible payment as well.
Sophie Stevens, a jewelry specialist at Sotheby’s Dubai, told The Associated Press that the number five bears an importance significance to the diamond, which has 55 facets as well.
“The shape of the diamond is based on the Middle-Eastern palm symbol of the Khamsa, which stands for strength and it stands for protection,” she said. Khamsa in Arabic means five.
“So there’s a nice theme of the number five running throughout the diamond," she added.
Stevens also said the black diamond is likely from outer space.
“With the carbonado diamonds, we believe that they were formed through extraterrestrial origins, with meteorites colliding with the Earth and either forming chemical vapor disposition or indeed coming from the meteorites themselves,” she said.
Black diamonds, also known as carbonado, are extremely rare, and are found naturally only in Brazil and Central Africa. The cosmic origin theory is based on their carbon isotopes and high hydrogen content.
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The months of counting across the U.S. are essential, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham emphasized. The results determine how federal funds are distributed to public entities like schools and hospitals and for infrastructure and public services.
A U.S. citizen who recently returned from a trip to central China has been diagnosed with the new virus.
Members of the public who want to follow President Donald Trump's impeachment and Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape trial through the media will sit in obstructed seats.
Concerns over the coronavirus outbreak translated to a nearly 1.5 percent drop in the Shanghai Composite at Tuesday's close, its biggest decline in weeks, with the Nikkei in Japan and Hang Seng in Hong Kong also closing lower.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, January 21, 2020.
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