You could proudly own a piece of the cosmic universe. If you have a few spare million lying around, anyway. Sotheby’s will soon auction off a rare black diamond. And this diamond does not disappoint. It even has origins that may trace all the way into outer space. The 555.55-carat black space diamond also has 55 facets. Which definitely makes it haunted. Though not nearly as cursed as if this rare diamond had 66 facets and 666.66 carats. But that, we’ll leave for the movies. This is reality.
Someone’s reality, anyway. Sotheby’s has titled the stone, “The Enigma.” Which seems right to us. It certainly has an air of mystery. But we do know some things about it. The diamond’s description shares:
The Enigma is an exquisite and extremely rare carbonado type black diamond… What makes carbonado diamonds such a unique stone? Most diamonds are usually uncovered in igneous kimberlite rock formed deep within the Earth. Carbonados differ in that they are found in alluvial, sedimentary deposits, close to or on 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 vapor deposition or an extraterrestrial origin – from supernovae explosions that formed diamond-bearing asteroids which ultimately collided with the Earth.
In short, this black space diamond just isn’t like other diamonds. Sotheby’s further notes that these kinds of diamond have other unique properties. They do not contain minerals typically found in your average diamonds… Or on earth at all, for that matter. Instead, they “contain traces of nitrogen, hydrogen, abundant in interstellar space.” And additionally, consist of osbornite. Osbornite typically lives in meteors.
According to an article on CNN, the diamond may have gotten its start “from a meteoric impact or from a ‘diamond-bearing’ asteroid” colliding with Earth. Perhaps a friend of the $700 quintillion asteroid? Or kin to the diamond exoplanet? Honestly, space sounds amazing. And full of precious things.
All in all, this black space diamond likely has an age of 2.6 to 3.8 billion years. An inconceivable amount of time. So once again we caution, maybe not cursed? But definitely haunted. More or less every horror movie ever teaches us we ought to tread carefully with this jewel. A rare black diamond from space has just on too many adjectives to feel safe. We wouldn’t want to unlock an ancient alien curse, now would we?
