Sotheby’s sold an exceptional 555.55-carat black diamond aptly named “The Enigma” for £3,161,000 (around US$4.3 million). The buyer has opted to use cryptocurrency for the purchase.

The sale was part of the auction house’s RE(LUX) luxury event series. “To have a natural faceted black diamond of this size is an extremely rare occurrence and its origins are shrouded in mystery – possibly thought to have been created either from meteoric impacts producing natural chemical vapor deposition or from diamond-bearing asteroids colliding with the earth,” noted Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s last year sold The Key 10138 diamond via cryptocurrency for a record price, proving that cryptocurrency is gradually making its mark in the world of physical art and objects.

A rare carbonado-type black diamond, The Enigma is the largest fancy black natural colour diamond in the world as of 2004 according to the Gemological Institute of America and Gübelin, and the largest cut diamond in the world as of 2006 as per the Guinness World Record book. 

Diamonds are historically prized for their high degree of transparency and absence of colour while black diamonds were typically reserved for industrial uses. Most gem-quality black diamonds used in contemporary jewellery design are treated to produce their black colour, making the appearance of a natural faceted black diamond of this size incredibly rare. Several natural and sizable black diamonds have attracted attention over the years such as the Black Orlov, the Amsterdam Diamond and The Enigma, proving that natural black diamonds are becoming increasingly desirable and sought after in the market today.