Carbonados: the enigma of black diamonds

Chris Carter reports on the extremely rare black diamonds that fetch millions at auction.

Enigma black diamond
The Enigma is the world’s largest cut diamond and sold for £3.2m
(Image credit: © Sotheby's)

Provenance is usually one of the first things auction buyers want to know. But when it comes to the Enigma, a 555.55-carat Fancy Black Natural Colour diamond that went on sale with Sotheby’s earlier this month, that is a mystery. The prevailing theory is that it came from outer space, either from a meteoric impact or from a diamond-bearing asteroid that collided with Earth, says Sotheby’s. That event probably took place some time between 2.6 billion and 3.8 billion years ago. What we do know is that it is big. The Guinness Book of World Records certified the Enigma as the world’s largest cut diamond in 2006.

Black diamonds are only found in two places on Earth – Brazil and the Central African Republic. Both locations were once connected on the supercontinent of Rodinia. The diamonds are also known as carbonado, after the Portuguese word meaning burnt or carbonised – the first miners to find them in eastern Brazil in the 1840s named them for their sooty appearance. That these rare diamonds come from such a localised area adds credence to the meteor theory. They also contain traces of osbornite, a mineral only found on rocks that originated far off in space.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.