Diamond Northumberland woman was about to throw out is valued at £2m

A Northumberland lady in her 70s almost threw a diamond in the bin but realised, before it was too late, that it was actually a 34-carat diamond valued at a staggering £2 million.

The diamond is set to go on auction at the end of November.

It was almost thrown away after the shocked pensioner was having a clear out at her home. She took the diamond, and a few other pieces of jewellery that she had amassed from car boot sales over the year to be valued.

The stone is larger than a pound coin, and is being stored in London, at Hatton Garden before it is auctioned next month.

The woman took the diamond, along with a few other low-valued pieces of jewellery in a box to Featonby’s Auctioneers in North Shields, North Tyneside.

Mark Lane of Featonby’s said: “We saw quite a large stone, bigger than a pound coin and I thought it was cubic zirconia (a synthetic diamond lookalike). It sat on my desk for two or three days until I decided to use a diamond tester machine”.

After that it was sent off to their partners in London, before it was then certified by experts in Antwerp Belgium, who relayed that it was a 34.19 carat colour HVS1, which is rare.

A diamond’s carats are calculated on the weight of the stone, with heavier diamonds having a higher carat, and a subsequent higher price.

The woman has decided to remain anonymous, and whilst she can’t pinpoint exactly where she acquired the diamond, she is sure she may have picked it up at a car boot sale, as she was always attending them, and usually left with a few trinkets.

Having no idea it was worth anything of significant value, the woman is set to have her Christmas arrive a month earlier, as she is set to pocket at least £2 million for something she almost threw away.