Massive 100-carat diamond ring sells for $22M at auction

Lori Grisham

USA TODAY Network

A Sotheby's employee models a 100-carat emerald-cut diamond.

Diamonds ARE forever.

A 100-carat emerald-cut diamond went up for auction Tuesday at Sotheby's in New York City.

It ended up fetching more than $22 million, according to Sotheby's catalogue listing.

"The color is whiter than white, it is free of any internal imperfections, and so transparent that I can only compare it to a pool of icy water," Gary Schuler, the head of Sotheby's jewelry department, told USA TODAY Network in a statement.

The jewel is 100.20 carats in a platinum setting size 6½. The Sotheby's listing calls the diamond "exceedingly rare" and a "miracle of nature." It is one of six 100-carat diamonds ever sold at auction worldwide, according to the statement.

The "perfect" 100-carat diamond could fetch between $19 million to $25 million.

The diamond was part of the Magnificent Jewels auction. Its final price was $22,090,000. Estimates had predicted the diamond would sell for between $19 million and $25 million.

The diamond was mined in southern Africa within the last 10 years, according to Sotheby's spokesman Darrell Rocha.

Watch a video from Sotheby's about the diamond:

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