No Buyer For 72-Carat Diamond

No buyer? No kidding.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Global auction house Sotheby's failed to hammer off a 72.22-carat, "D" flawless white diamond at its Asian sales last week in a possible sign of weakness in the global diamond trade.

The large diamond which had a pre-sale estimate of $10-12 million, attracted a final bid of HK$73 million ($9.24million) that fell short of the reserve price and went unsold, said Sotheby's press officer Rhonda Yung.

The diamond was later sold to a private buyer for an undisclosed sum, Sotheby's said. Yung added that several international buyers had bid for the stone but "confusion over exchange rates" had caused the auctioneer to retract some bids and may have dampened buyer enthusiasm.

The Sotheby's stone was the third largest "pear-shaped" diamond ever auctioned globally, and was of exceptional quality given its size, symmetry and esteemed "Type IIA" rating, given only to the most brilliant of white "D" color diamonds. (H/T - Yahoo!)

Actually, the private buyer was me. I figured it could be the prize for visitor #200,000. /Snark. We're only about 130 hits away as of this posting, so keep your eye on the Site Meter.