09 October,2013 08:28 AM IST | | AFP
u00a0A white diamond the size of a small egg sold for $30.6 million (Rs 190 crore) at an auction on Monday, edging out the previous record for such a stone set just six months ago.
Two phone bidders competed for the 118-carat African diamond in six minutes of measured bidding, until one dropped out at the Sotheby's auction.
The stone, dubbed the âMagnificent Oval Diamond', was discovered in a deep mine in an undisclosed southern African country in 2011.
As a rough stone before being cut, it weighed 299 carats.
The sale beat the record set at a diamond auction last year, when a 101.73-carat diamond was sold for $26.7 million (Rs 165 crore).