A one-of-a-kind ring cut from a single large diamond sold at auction for more than $256,000 Wednesday evening.
Designed by Apple’s chief design officer Jony Ive and industrial designer Marc Newson, the one-piece design does away with the metal band and settings traditionally used by jewelers.
The item has between 2,000 and 3,000 facets, a number never previously seen in a single diamond piece, according to auction house Sotheby’s.
It was cut using a micrometer-thick (one millionth of a meter) water jet and a laser beam by Diamond Foundry, a company that produces laboratory diamonds at a facility in San Francisco.
The ring was auctioned off in Miami, with the proceeds donated to (RED), an HIV/AIDS charity set up by singer Bono and activist Bobby Shriver.
It is the latest collaboration between Ive and Newson, whose joint projects have included a one-off Leica camera and a Christmas tree for London hotel Claridge’s.
The item’s final price exceeded its top estimate of $250,000 at the (RED) auction, which took place during the Art Basel and Design Miami fairs. It will be cut to fit the finger of the winning bidder.
A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds
It has been an eventful few weeks for diamonds at auction. In November, an 18.96-carat pink diamond sold for $50 million at Christie’s in Geneva, a new per-carat record price at auction.