Massive flawless diamond sells for €20.5m

A flawless, walnut-sized 100-carat diamond has been sold for €20.5m in the US overnight.

The jewel, which was mined by De Beers in southern Africa, was snapped up by an anonymous buyer at the Sothebys auction in New York after only three minutes' bidding.

The diamond had taken more than a year to cut, polish and perfect.

The head of Sotheby's jewellery department in New York, Gary Schuler, described the diamond as "the definition of perfection".

"The colour is whiter than white, it is free of any internal imperfections and so transparent that I can only compare it to a pool of icy water," he said before the sale.

The sale fell short of the €33.5m world record price paid for a 118-carat white diamond in Hong Kong in 2013.