NEW YORK (AP) — A "perfect" 100-carat diamond in a classic emerald cut sold for just over $22 million at auction on Tuesday. 
 
 A Sotheby's employee models a 100-carat emerald-cut diamond, Friday, April 17, 2015, in New York. The "perfect" 100-carat diamond in a classic emerald cut is going on the auction block, where it could... (Associated Press) 
 
 A 100-carat emerald-cut diamond is on display at Sotheby's, Friday, April 17, 2015, in New York. The "perfect" 100-carat diamond in a classic emerald cut is going on the auction block, where it could... (Associated Press) 
 
 The internally flawless D color stone is the only classic emerald-cut white diamond of the highest color and clarity and over 100 carats to come to auction, according to Sotheby's. 
 
 The final price on Tuesday night was $22,090,000, including the buyer's premium. 
 
 "This 100.20-carat diamond is the definition of perfection. The color is whiter than white. It is free of any internal imperfections," Sotheby's New York jewelry department head Gary Schuler said in a statement prior to the sale, likening its transparency "to a pool of icy water." 
 
 The presale estimate had been between $19 million and $25 million. 
 
 The diamond was mined in southern Africa within the last 10 years and weighed over 200 carats before it was cut and polished, the auction house said. 
 
 The seller wished to remain anonymous. The buyer was also anonymous, and the winning bid came in over the phone. 
 
 Only five "perfect" diamonds over 100 carats have sold at auction in the last 25 years, with a 118-carat oval-cut stone fetching $30.6 million at Sotheby's in 2013. It set a record for a white diamond. 
 
 The record for any jewel is $46 million for a 24.78-carat emerald-cut pink diamond, set at Sotheby's in 2010. 

 (Updates with sale, details) 
 
 NEW YORK, April 21 An eye-popping, 100-carat diamond, the highlight of a magnificent jewels sale in New York on Tuesday, sold for $22.1 million, Sotheby's auction house said. 
 
 The perfect classic emerald-cut D color diamond, which is about the size of a walnut and was mined by De Beers in southern Africa, was purchased by an anonymous buyer via a telephone bid. It had a pre-sale estimate of $19 million to $25 million. 
 
 Gary Schuler, the head of Sotheby's jewelry department in New York, said the gem is the definition of perfection. 
 
 "The color is whiter than white, it is free of any internal perfections, and so transparent that I can only compare it to a pool of water," he explained. 
 
 The $22.1 million price, which includes the buyer's premium, fell short of the $30.6 million world record price paid for a 118.28 carat white diamond in Hong Kong in 2013. Sotheby's said only six perfect diamonds weighing more than 100 carats have been sold at auction in the last 25 years. 
 
 A flawless pink diamond, dubbed the "Pink Star," set a world record price for a gemstone at auction when it sold for $83.02 million in Geneva in 2013. 
 
 Schuler said the distinguishing characteristic of the huge diamond sold on Tuesday is its size and beautiful shape. Originally weighing over 200 carats, its owner spent more than a year perfecting its cut and polish. 
 
 Sotheby's said that from 1990 to 2013 the price per carat for a 100-carat perfect diamond had risen from $125,000 to $260,000. 
 
 The diamond was the top selling item in a sale of more than 350 jewels that were expected to sell for a total of more than $50 million. 
 
 Other highlights include a pear-shaped purplish pink diamond weighing 6.24 carats that has a pre-sale estimate of up to $3.5 million as well as a blue diamond and colored diamond ring weighing 6.06 carats that could bring in as much as $4.5 million. 
 
 Two Cartier Art Deco jewels, a rare platinum, emerald, sapphire, lapis lazuli and diamond pendant necklace as well as a ruby, emerald and diamond bracelet, will also be auctioned. 
 
 The Baron de Rothschild necklace is expected to sell for up to $2.2 million and the bracelet has a pre-sale estimate of up to $1.8 million. 
 
 Two Kashmir sapphire and diamond rings could each bring in $1 million or more, according to Sotheby's. 
 
 (Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Ted Botha and Andrew Hay)
– An anonymous buyer is sporting some major bling after ponying up a tad over $22 million yesterday for a 100-carat diamond that Sotheby's likens to "the definition of perfection," the AP reports. It's the only white diamond of the classic emerald cut more than 100 carats and boasting the highest color and clarity to come to auction, according to Sotheby's. "It is free of any internal imperfections," a Sotheby's rep said in a pre-sale statement, calling the stone's transparency similar to "a pool of icy water." The giant gem—final price $22,090,000, including the buyer's premium—originally weighed more than 200 carats until its previous owner spent more than a year cutting and polishing it to perfection, Reuters reports. The walnut-sized diamond was reportedly mined by De Beers in southern Africa. The jewel missed hitting the world record, still held by a 118-carat white diamond sold for $30.6 million in 2013, the AP adds. (Maybe there's a diamond waiting to be found in a state park near you.)