$30.8 Million Diamond

BVO - The Daily Digit is $30.8 million.

That's the record price for a 118.28 carat white diamond sold at auction in Hong Kong, Sotheby's announced.

The buyer - a secret telephone bidder -according to media reports.The stone mined from southern Africa in 2011 is the size of an egg and weighs as much as a small tangerine, making it the biggest white diamond ever to be auctioned off.

Sotheby's chose Hong Kong because it considers it the most important city in the jewelry market.

Chinese appetite for diamond jewelry is expected to double over the next decade, according to one estimate, and even more, wealthy Chinese are increasingly willing to see diamonds as an alternative investment, says one investor specializing in rare gems.