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.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, June 10, 2019.
Progressive advocacy groups across the country are ramping up pressure on federal lawmakers to open an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
Nearly a decade since the Arab Spring uprisings, social media use in the region has declined dramatically.
Facebook announced on Wednesday a comprehensive ban on white nationalism and white separatism, two ideologies that the company previously viewed as different from white supremacy, which the social network blocked in 2018.
A public petition for the British government not to go through with Brexit gained so many signatures that the Parliament website crashed on Thursday.
If someone who's already rich and in a family of millionaires goes on to become a billionaire through their own work and business acumen ー can that person really be considered "self-made"? That was the question that ricocheted across social media after Forbes, the arbiter of such matters, crowned Kylie Jenner as the youngest self-made billionaire ever. She is 21.
Starbucks is partnering with Ariana Grande on its latest coffee offering. The coffee chain and singer both posted twin cloud emoji tweets on Monday. Grande tagged @Starbucks, leading fans online to piece together that she was teasing the new "Cloud Macchiato," which Starbucks officially launched this week.
Cannabis, hemp, reefer, marijuana, dope, pot, grass ー no matter what term you choose, they all refer to the same plant: cannabis sativa. It’s a common misconception that cannabis sativa exclusively means that particular strain of weed that makes you creative and focused (as opposed to indica, which promotes relaxation)ー but it’s actually the scientific name of the single plant that yields marijuana, CBD, and hemp, among other products.
Martha Stewart is bringing her brand cache to cannabis. The lifestyle empress is partnering with Canopy Growth ($CGC), the Canadian pot grower and distributor, to help develop CBD and hemp-infused products for humans and animals, the company announced in a statement.
SoundCloud, the German streaming service that was on the brink of collapse before a financial rescue in 2017, is doubling down as a platform for creators with a new service that will allow artists to upload and push their content to all of the major streaming providers, including Apple, Spotify, and Amazon. SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor told Cheddar it's an "exciting and natural addition" to SoundCloud's value proposition as a place where artists go to distribute their music.
