U.S.

Auctioneer shows off 118-carat diamond in NYC

September 4, 2013 / 5:44 PM EDT / AP

NEW YORK A New York auction house is showing off a 118-carat white diamond that's the size of an egg.

A 118-carat white diamond is on display at Sotheby's, a New York auction house, Sept. 4, 2013 in New York. Mary Altaffer/AP

The oval stone was highlighted at a Manhattan media event Wednesday. It will be auctioned in Hong Kong on Oct. 7 and has a pre-sale estimate of $28 million to $35 million.

Sotheby's calls it the greatest white diamond to be offered at auction in terms of size, quality, polish and color.

It was discovered in 2011 as a 299-carat rough diamond in an undisclosed southern African nation.

The current record for any white diamond is $26.7 million. That pear-shaped stone was over 101 carats. It was sold at Christie's in Geneva last spring.

The stone being auctioned next month is nearly 20 percent larger.