The richest diamond sale in Canadian history is apparently something of a bargain buy

When it comes to auctions, there’s almost nothing more titillating to bidders than a giant, multi-million-dollar, Kardashian-sized diamond (except perhaps for Justin Bieber’s Johnson). Yesterday, the newly revived Ritchie’s auction house offered such an item at the ROM. Normally, such bling-filled bidding happens in more glamorous locales like London or New York (or, you know, in Bond films), but thanks to the soft American and European economies, the seller—an anonymous, presumably cash-strapped Belgian hotelier—decided to offload the rock in the relatively strong Canadian market. We’re not sure how well that strategy worked, however, as the 50-karat jewel sold for less than a third of its $10-million value at a mere $2.7 million. On the one hand, we now wonder if Toronto is the Walmart of international jewellery sales; on the other, it’s also reportedly the richest diamond sale in Canadian history. Naturally, the anonymous buyer has only been described as “mysterious” and “international”—just like that nameless foreign condo buyer—but given the sale price, we feel the need to add “bargain hunter” to the list. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »