22.10 huge Emerald cut auction - Details please.

The story is that the billionaire Leonore Annenberg spoiled herself for her 90th birthday in 2007 with the 32.01 carat asscher cut D color flawless beauty. Mrs. Annenberg purchased her diamond from David Webb, the famous American jeweler, at his store in Beverly Hills. Mrs. Annenberg immediately had the diamond set in a beautiful ring that featured two smaller 1.5 carat pear-cut diamonds. When the stone-in-ring was delivered, it was considered so precious that it actually arrived acompanied by a crew of armed guards. According to reports, Mrs. Annenberg wore her diamond fondly and as often as she could. Leonore "Lee" Annenberg was a passionate art collector and do-gooder who, with her husband Walter H. Annenberg, entrusted billions of dollars to institutions devoted to education and the arts. When Annenberg passed away last year, the diamond was transferred to an auction at Christie's Auction House. The diamond itself is approximately the size of a cherry and was expected to sell for $3 million to $5 million. Surprisingly, it sold for around 7.7 million dollars. That it was a diamond once belonging to Leonore Annenberg certainly added to the value and price of the diamond. This actually made it the most expensive diamond of its size ever purchased. The previous record purchase price for a diamond the same size was only $3.1 million. As for Christie's Auction House, the 7.7 million dollar price is far from being the highest ever paid for a diamond sold in its auctions. Less than a year ago the cushion-cut Wittlebach diamond, a 35.6 carat, blueish fancy color stone, was sold for 24.3 million dollars. As of now, the Asscher cut diamond's new owner is unknown and has yet to name the stone. Till it is named, we'll just have to keep on calling it the Annenberg diamond.

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