The highlight of Christie’s recent New York Jewel sale, the two Ponahalo Diamonds put on auction, were bought by a single buyer, Amer Radwan of Radwan Diamond and Jewelry Trading in Dubai. The two diamonds, one as a rectangular-cut L color, SI1 clarity, diamond of 102.11cts was bought for $4,114,500 and the other a rectangular-cut L color, SI1 clarity, diamond of 70.87cts was bought for $2,154,500. The diamonds highlighted Christie’s Jewels: The New York Sale and Superb 20th Century Jewels from an American Collection, which totaled $29.4 million. Of the total 264 lots put on offer at the sale, a total of 183 were sold, which generated a sales of £16,813,400

“In a volatile market when the Dow lost 700 points in a day, nearly $30 million of jewelry and precious stones changed hands at Christie’s in less than five hours thus demonstrating the relative stability of the jewelry market and the long dependability of gems as a store of portable value,” said Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s Head of Jewelry.

The company has decided to donate part of sales revenues from the two diamonds to the Diamond Empowerment Fund. The Fund is a non-profit organisation co-founded by Russell Simmons, for empowerment in Africa through funding education programs in African countries where diamonds are a natural resource. Russell Simmons, co-creator of Diamond Empowerment Fund comments: “I'm extremely pleased at the way this initiative for educating and empowering Africans through the sale of diamonds is taking off. We are thankful to Steinmetz for choosing the Diamond Empowerment Fund and, through DEF, the students at the Maharishi Institute for this great gift.” Lior Levin, Global Marketing Director of Steinmetz, said about the two diamonds, “These exquisite gems have completed a long journey from the Venetian mine in South Africa to the master craftsmen at Steinmetz. They are bestowed with the Forevermark, insuring the Diamonds’ absolute integrity, in support of local communities in Africa.”

The rough of the Ponahalo Diamonds was discovered in 2005, as the largest ever to emerge from the De Beers Venetia mine. The rough was named as Ponahalo, by Jonathan Oppenheimer, Head of the Chairman’s Office De Beers Group. The Ponahalo was taken upon by Steinmetz Diamond Group, which cut the stone to produce four polished diamonds, leaving one in its rough form. It took eighteen months to shape the two largest diamonds, weighing 102.11 and 70.87 carats, into rectangular cut gems.