Touted to be the world's largest black diamond, Enigma measures a precise 555.55 carats, has 55 facets, and is said to be of extraterrestrial origin.
A massive black diamond with supposedly extra-terrestrial origins was just auctioned for a cool $4.3 million, but the gem and geology world is still divided over its origin story whether it actually came all the way from space. Black diamonds are known to get their color from materials like graphite and sulfides in the crystal, and fall under the category of minerals called Carbonados. However, factors such as size and the facetting also play a role in dictating the color intensity and gleam of black diamonds. As to how they are formed, there are multiple theories.
Some attribute their existence to an asteroid impact event, while others link them to carbon-rich stars that go supernova and send fragments to other planets. The latter is not unheard of. In 2014, scientists revealed the existence of a white dwarf called PSR J2222-0137 whose temperature was estimated to fall somewhere around 2,700 degrees Celsius, cool enough that its carbon content crystallized & it essentially lives as a massive diamond in space. The extraterrestrial origin of black diamonds has to do with their chemical composition, particularly due to the presence of exotic metallic components like Titanium Nitride that are commonly found in meteorites.
As per Switzerland-based Gubelin Gem Lab’s analysis that was shared by Sotheby's, the Enigma has an almost metallic luster owing to its polish. Microscopic analysis revealed that its crystal matrix contains brownish-yellow microcrystals alongside tiny vein-like patterns in some regions, and some tiny red and yellow grains of unknown origin. Auctioned via Sotheby’s, the Enigma was acquired in 1990s as a rough stone and then given its distinctive shape. Sotheby’s auction mentions that the diamond may have originated between 2.6 to 3.8 billion years ago, a period of active meteoric activity on Earth. Interestingly, Sotheby’s was accepting payments for the black diamond in the form of cryptocurrencies, which is not too surprising, as the auction house recently put the source code of the World Wide Web as an NFT.
As per the lab report, it is “a remarkably large specimen for this color variety of diamond.” The Guinness Book of Records called it the world’s largest cut diamond in 2016, weighing in at 555.55 carats. “What we think either happened is an asteroid collided with the Earth and created chemical vapor deposition that formed these diamonds, or indeed that these diamonds were part of the meteorite as it collided with the Earth,” Sophie Stevens, a jewelry specialist at Sotheby’s Dubai was quoted as saying by The National. However, Enigma is not the biggest diamond of its kind. That honor goes to another carbonado called Sergio that is about 3,167-carat and is of Brazilian origin.
But there are skeptics too. Some geologists suggest black diamonds can also be formed deep inside Earth’s mantle layer, but the precise chemical conditions for making it happen are unclear. As for the buyer, the Enigma has fallen into the kitty of an entrepreneur named Richard Heart who is the founder of Hex, touted to be the world’s first high-interest blockchain certificate of deposit. Heart announced his purchase via a video on Twitter. However, Enigma is far from matching the value of asteroids that it is touted to originate from. Later this year, NASA plans to send a spacecraft to an asteroid called Psyche that is “unusually rich in metal” word more than quadrillion dollars. The agency will also BE crashing a spacecraft against an asteroid to see if it can be a viable planetary defense tactic.
Source: Sotheby's, The National, NASA
