Wednesday, 29th March 2006 (4711 views)

A gold necklace set with a 40-carat rectangular diamond failed to sell at an auction in Singapore at the weekend.

The piece, which also includes 50 smaller diamonds set in 18-carat white gold, was expected to fetch up to $370,000, Bloomberg reports.

However, the bidding finished at $205,000, short of the seller's expectations, and went unsold at the Hilton Hotel Singapore event.

The auction, which saw 224 other items go under the hammer, was organised by First State Auctions, Australia's largest jewellery auctioneer.

First State's Ari Taibel said: "I would have loved to have sold it. For big ticket items like this one, you need a few people driving up the price."

The auctioneer will hold another jewellery auction in the Asian city-state on May 28th.

The largest diamond ever to go up for sale at an auction was a 407.48-carat stone that was on offer in New York in 1988. It failed to sell, however, as bids did not meet the seller's expectations.

A carat is one-fifth of a gram.

 

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