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 Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019.
The fallout continues over Amazon's decision to pull out of New York City. Many housing developers scooped up property in the area in anticipation of the 25,000 new employees that would have been coming to town. So what does that mean for the future of real estate in Long Island City? Amy Plitt from Curbed NY talked to Cheddar about how it will impact everything from rents to sidewalks.
If you are among the many who bought a condo in a glassy high-rise on the Queens waterfront sight unseen ー via text message ー when news broke last fall that Amazon was coming to town... well, that decision may not look so smart in the cold light of day on Friday.
Wham-O, a company best known for mass-marketing iconic toys like the hula hoop and Frisbee, manufactures most of its toys in China. But only now that has chosen to branch out into e-bikes does the company anticipate feeling the sting of the ongoing trade war. "To date, it hasn't really affected us that much," Wham-O President Todd Richards told Cheddar. "Now with this new technology and this new product, we foresee a little bit of a cost impact."
While his Fyre Fest business partner Billy McFarland does his time in prison, rapper Ja Rule is out living his truth, which ー as it turns out ー might include a revival of a Fyre Fest-like event.
TMZ caught Ja Rule at the Los Angeles airport, where he told the gossip site ー which is similar to the original Fyre booking app that the disastrous event was initially meant to launch ー will probably have its own festival.
When engineer Liz Fong-Jones took a job at Google 11 years ago, she was confident in her mission: to make "the world's information universally accessible and useful." But over time, she said she witnessed the company fail to protect its most vulnerable users, while turning a blind eye to the harassment of marginalized employees in its own workplace ー Fong-Jones among them.
Christina Ha, founder of the Meow Parlor, wasn't always a cat person. Ha, who is allergic to felines, paid them minimal attention until her husband brought one home ー and she fell deeply, madly in love (although she admitted she takes Benadryl daily). Eventually, her adoration became a bustling cat cafe in New York City. And now, she's adding another furry business to her portfolio ー cat camp.
Advancements in logistics and distribution are making it easier for entrepreneurs, especially women and minorities, to get their ideas out into the market, according to Interactive Advertising Bureau CEO Randall Rothenberg. "The supply chain is promiscuously available," Rothenberg to Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Feb, 15, 2019.
Actor and screenwriter Jay Baruchel didn't anticipate that "How to Train Your Dragon" would become a global phenomenon when he agreed to voice the lead role in the 2010 animated film. Now, about a decade later, the trilogy (and its accompanying franchise) is drawing to a close, and Baruchel is bracing himself for the end.
