Auctioneer Fabricated Story of $2.5m "Bric-a-Brac" Diamond
January 15, 24
(IDEX Online) - A British auctioneer has admitted that his story of a 34-carat diamond, worth $2.5m, being found among worthless bric-a-brac at a garage sale was a complete fabrication.
Mark Lane, of Featonby's Auction House, told a court he made it all up to generate media interest, in the hope it would save his 100-year-old family business.
At the time, Lane told reporters an unnamed woman in her 70s had bought the diamond at a garage sale ("car boot sale" in Britain) many years ago, and had almost discarded it during a clear out. He said he'd dismissed it as cubic zirconia until it checked it out.
The story made headlines in British newspapers in October 2021, and as a result, an unnamed litigant took his ex-wife to court, wrongly convinced that she'd been the owner of the diamond, and had kept it secret from him.
The case was finally heard at Derby Family Court, in central England, where the judge now ruled there was no direct or indirect evidence that the ex-wife, referred to as AM, had ever owned the diamond.
The 34.19 carat colour H / VS1 stone actually belonged to a dealer in Antwerp and was due to be sold at Featonby's premises in Hatton Garden, London, in November 2021.
"When they saw their diamond splashed all over the British newspapers, they wanted to know what was going on and wanted the diamond back, and the auction house lost the sale," Judge Deborah Dinan-Hayard said in her ruling, as reported by the Daily Telegraph.
Pics show the diamond and Mark Lane, courtesy Featonby's Auction House.