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.
Your Future Home hosts Baker Machado and Hope King discuss the biggest stories in the housing market. In a big move, Dell Founder Michael Dell has reportedly bought the most expensive apartment ever sold in Manhatten. The $100,470,000 penthouse is part of the One57 apartment complex on West 57th Street.
Jeff Lin is the co-founder of Fanchest, a Brooklyn-based startup that ships boxes of sports gear straight to your door. He tells Cheddar what keeps him going every day.
Jeff Lin is the co-founder of Fanchest, a Brooklyn-based startup that ships boxes of your favorite team's gear straight to your door. Fanchest has high profile investors like NFL stars Drew Brees and Von Miller.
David Hogg, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, discusses President Trump's recent rhetoric on guns and arming teachers in the days following the mass shooting.
Olympic gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, CEO and co-founder of Sports Innovation Lab, discusses the U.S. Women's Hockey team's gold medal win over Canada. Ruggiero also shares her thoughts on the cutting edge technology she saw at the PyeongChang games.
Chris Tung, chief marketing officer at Alibaba, told Cheddar that his company's latest campaign stems from its core belief to support small businesses and young people around the world.
Michael Simon, staff writer for PC World, previews Mobile World Congress kicking off this weekend in Spain. Samsung, LG, Sony, and others are all expected to unveil new phones.
The survivor of last week's attack in southern Florida told Cheddar that it's unpatriotic to "buy democracy" from the American people. He says those lobbying against stricter gun control laws are cowards and "child murderers".
Paul Manafort and Robert Gates face 32 new charges in Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel gets a record-breaking payday. Teenagers across the country and politicians continues to weigh in on gun control in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, FL.
Matt Klinman is a comedian who has been working in comedy for companies like Funny or Die for years. Recently, the comedy site had to lay off many people in their video department. Klinman spoke with Cheddar about the reason many media companies are laying off social video departments and how these companies can refocus their goals to leave Facebook behind.
