The Archduke of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire once owned this GIA Certified 76.02 diamond graded D color and IF (internally flawless). Fetching $21.5 million at Christies Geneva on 13th November, $282,545 per carat topped Elizabeth Taylor’s GIA Certified 33.19 carat diamond graded D color and VS1 clarity which sold December last year for $265,697 per carat. This reflects an ongoing trend towards ownership of hard assets since smart people are waking up to the fact that fiat currencies are no store for wealth. Suspicious as to depreciation of value associated with an inflationary environment, investors are busy converting their empty paper promises to hard assets.
The history of the Archduke diamond is obscure, but it is believed to have come from India’s Golcanda mine, responsible for producing a host of legendary diamonds prior to the 19th Century.