No buyer for 72.22-carat diamond at Sotheby's

Global auction house Sotheby's failed to hammer off a 72.22-carat, "D" flawless white diamond at its Asian sales, media reports Thursday quoted the house as saying.

The large diamond attracted a final bid of 73 million HK dollars (about 9.24 million U.S. dollars), which fell short of the reserve price and went unsold, said Sotheby's press officer Rhonda Yung.

Cut from an original rough diamond weighing 188.11 carats, the pear-shaped D-color flawless was estimated to bid at between 78 million and 100 million HK dollars (10 million to 13 million U.S. dollars).

The diamond was later sold to a private buyer for an undisclosed sum.

The stone was the third largest "pear-shaped" diamond ever auctioned globally. It has exceptional quality, given its size, symmetry and esteemed "Type IIA" rating, which is given only to the most brilliant of white "D" color diamonds.

The next big auction could be a massive 101-carat, "near-flawless," squash-ball sized diamond which will be sold by Sotheby's rival Christie's next month in Hong Kong.

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