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.
Angela Ruggiero, Olympic gold medalist and CEO and co-founder of Sports Innovation Lab, joins Cheddar live from PyeongChang, South Korea to share her thoughts on the first week of the Olympics. She also discusses the technology she's been seeing at the games.
Sean O'Connell, managing editor at CinemaBlend, discusses the release of Marvel's new "Black Panther" film and what it means for people of color in Hollywood.
On today's episode of VF Hive Kristen Scholer and Jon Kelly discuss the shooting in Parkland, CNN's turmoil and the future of Trump's Chief-of-Staff.
Stories of heroism inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The mass shooting killed 17 people, and injured many others. Facebook is teaming up with organizations such as Lyft to make it easier to help people during a crisis. The Dow closes 300 points higher. McDonald's change its Happy Meal.
Amazon surpassed Microsoft in market cap. McDonald's is making its Happy Meals healthier. Washington D.C. reacts to the Florida high school massacre. Plus, we hear from an entrepreneur who started the first studio of its kind in the fitness industry.
The boxing trend is sweeping through the fitness industry. Box + Flow founder Liv Young joins Cheddar to discuss how she's breaking through the cluttered landscape by combining the sport with another popular workout: yoga.
Sarah Ramos stars as Meg in the upcoming romantic comedy "The Boy Downstairs," which co-stars Zosia Mamet. Ramos sits down with Alyssa Julya Smith in Los Angeles to discuss her role in the film, and the resurgence of the romantic comedy.
eHarmony uses top technologies like machine learning to create matches and potential dates for users based on a compatibility questionnaire. Alyssa Julya Smith went to the company's headquarters in Los Angeles to chat with head of engineering Prateek Jain to find out how the company does it and what sets eHarmony apart from other dating sites.
“Black Panther” is set to open this weekend with Disney anticipating an opening weekend of $150 million at the box office. Alyssa Julya Smith sits down with Screen Junkies Editor-in-chief Roth Cornet to discuss how the film is helping with diversity in Hollywood as well as what to expect this year at the Oscar's with the Time's Up and #metoo movement.
Stormy Daniels' manager says she's ready to share her story after President Trump's lawyer violated a non-disclosure agreement. YourTango's Rebecca Stokes joins Cheddar to discuss the factors behind the latest twist in this story.
