Alrosa’s recent online auction of special-sized rough diamonds generated a total of US$8.8 million, with buyers from major diamond markets snapping up a total of 2,040 carats.

According to the company, about 95 per cent of lots were sold at the event, which took place from April 1 to 22. The sale attracted buyers from Belgium, Israel, India, UAE, Russia and the US.

“Digital auctions for large, special-sized diamonds have proven their attractiveness for our clients last year. Apart from obvious benefits of choosing goods remotely while travel restrictions are still in place, they allow our clients to purchase rough for polished diamonds with guaranteed provenance,” said Evgeny Agureev, deputy CEO of Alrosa.

Using a so-called digital twin technology, clients can analyse goods remotely and trace polished diamonds’ journey, revealed the miner. Alrosa introduced digital auctions of regular goods in 2019. In March 2020, it held its first online sale of special-sized rough diamonds.