Shanghai investors have the chance to buy into a sparkling future, with an auction of 150 diamonds weighing more than one carat in the city on December 2.

Shanghai-based 21Gem, the auction organizer, is offering the precious stones complete with a Belgian HRD certificate (Diamond High Council) guaranteeing their authenticity.

The cheapest diamond in the auction has a price guide of 31,500 yuan (US$4,245). And the biggest diamond is a 2.26-carat round diamond, which has a minimum auction threshold of 312,500 yuan.

Diamonds of more than one carat are regarded as an investment akin to hard currency, with demand for diamond and precious jewelry soaring in Shanghai each year.

The company will also exhibit 500 diamonds of one carat or above at the four-day China International Gold, Jewelry & Gem Fair which wraps up on December 2 at Shanghai Exhibition Center. The 500 precious stones are valued at more than 100 million yuan, the company said.

It's the second time that 21Gem has organized an auction for more than 100 one-carat diamonds.

Chinese are adding precious stones as an investment option as their pockets grow deeper.

Diamond trading on the Shanghai Diamond Exchange is expected to grow to US$1 billion this year as more trades are expected to shift from illegal means to open channels after a recent tax cut, Lin Qiang, president of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, said earlier.

Diamond trades through the bourse topped US$610 million last year, up 44.4 percent from 2005.

China cut value-added tax on imported polished diamonds from 17 percent to four percent in 2006, while VAT was exempted on imported rough diamonds.

(Shanghai Daily November 22, 2007)