- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
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- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
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- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
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- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
Black diamond, largest ever cut, sells for £3.2 million
"The Enigma", the world's largest known cut diamond at 555 carats, went under the hammer in London on Wednesday for £3.16 million ($4.3 million, 3.8 million euros) having recently gone on display for the first time.
The rare black, or carbanado, diamond is believed to have been created when a meteorite or an asteroid hit Earth more than 2.6 billion years ago.
The 555.55 carat, 55-faced diamond reached £3.16 million, excluding the buyer's premium, at an online sale held by London's renowned Sotheby's auction house.
Carbonados are usually found close to the Earth's surface, suggesting extraterrestrial origins.
"It is thought that this specific type of black diamond was created either from meteoric impacts producing natural chemical vapour deposition or an extraterrestrial origin -- from supernovae explosions that formed diamond-bearing asteroids which ultimately collided with the Earth," said the auction house.
One of the most difficult substances to cut, the diamond had never previously been shown by its unnamed owner of the past 20 years.
Experts took three years turning the rough diamond into a 55-face jewel and it recently went on show in Dubai, Los Angeles and London.
Its shape was inspired by the Middle East palm-shaped symbol of power and protection, the Hamsa, which is also associated with the number five.
"The Enigma's price did not quite reach intergalacticlevels. But what cannot be denied is that the Enigma is a diamond with unparallelled bragging rights," said Tobias Kormind, managing director of Europe's largest online jeweller, the Mayfair.
"The size, shape and source of the Enigma diamond make it groundbreaking and amazing," he added. "Most diamonds are cut into one of 10 popular shapes but the Enigma's form resembles a hand."
The Enigma is not a gem quality diamond, and carbonados are not normally used in jewellery or sold at auction, but have grown in popularity recently.
They are normally used in industrial drilling due to their extraordinary hardness.
Sotheby's called the diamond a "cosmic wonder" ahead of the sale, which also accepted crypto-currency bids.
Last year in Hong Kong, the Key 10138 diamond sold for 12.3 million dollars, which was paid in crypto-currency.
J.Oliveira--PC