The Golden Eye Diamond - Auction Update

A quick departure from Elizabeth Taylor to bring you this update on The Golden Eye diamond auction results. This rare and exquisite stone was expected to bring anywhere from $3 million to $20 million dollars at auction, but I guess the economy is a little tough for everybody as the final price fell short of expectations. Selling for just $2.8 million dollars, the new owners of the Golden Eye are a semi-retired Ohio couple, Jerre and Donah Hentosh. Prepared to spend as much as $7 million dollars for the diamond, Mr. Hentosh placed an online bid for the diamond thinking he would never win. It was his first online purchase. Yeah...that's what happens when I put things in my fake shopping carts too, but it's usually a bra and a pair of panties in there.

Actually, Mr. Hentosh is a pretty smart business man. A very successful home builder, he and his wife opened Gold and Silver, Ltd. back in 1979 to carry them over when the construction business was hit hard by the recession. Mr. Hentosh knows that when times are tough, people tend to sell their personal property to make a little extra cash. According to him, "it's a good business to be in for a short time." The Hentosh's are not sure what they will do with the stone...keep it or sell it.  But for now, they've made the ultimate Internet purchase.

Bid4Assets, the online auction house that hosted the sale, started the bidding on September 6th. Bidding remained slow until the last day, September 8th. Sixteen bids were submitted in the last minutes of the auction, nine of which Mr. Hentosh claimed were his. Mr. Hentosh has learned the hard way that you must only click once at check out time.

Mr. Hentosh is on the left.

The Golden Eye Goes On The Auction Block

The Golden Eye, believed to be one of the largest internally flawless diamonds in existence, will go on the auction block in early September. Evaluated by the GIA as a 43.51 carat, rectangular, natural, brilliant cut, intense yellow diamond, it was seized in 2006 during a federal drug and money laundering investigation in northeast Ohio. The auction opens with a minimum starting bid of $900,000 after which bids must increase by increments of $110,000. You can't even see or bid on the stone without first placing a deposit of $180,000 (refundable, thank you), which will be on display in Cleveland from August 29 - September 2.

Paul Monea

The origin of the diamond is unclear, but it is believed to be from southern Africa, known for producing intense yellow diamonds similar to the Golden Eye. But as with all outstanding gems, the more interesting history is the back story. This one links the stone to businessman, Paul Monea, famous for making millions with Billy Blank's Tae-Bo infomercials in the 90's (come on, you know you had one), and who was convicted in 2007 for money laundering and conspiracy. Monea, who many believe to be a professional schemer, came from humble roots and hit success early on with the idea of restaurant coupons, then went on to squander almost every cent he ever made by buying, among other things, fancy cars, an estate once owned by boxer Mike Tyson, and the Golden Eye diamond.  Authorities said Monea was caught in a sting when he tried to sell the Golden Eye, along with Tyson's tiger filled house, to an undercover FBI agent posing as a broker for a drug cartel, for 19.5 million dollars and a boat. Sitting at a conference table with his laywer, an associate, and the undercover agent who was working the sale, Monea was this close to romping with the unicorns in fields of happiness as this deal was about to go down. Everyone was waiting for a gemologist to authenticate the diamond before the money was to be wired. "It's real," the gemologist says, and the OK is given to send the money. This is when FBI agents rushed into the room and Monea quickly realized he was about to be lowered into a landfill of shit. What a boob.

Monea was a complicated man who spent a lot of time thinking up schemes in order to get over other people. In the end, he was caught in his own complex web of intrigue. Whereas, if he was a woman, she would have just handed it over to Sotheby's...that's the difference between a man and a woman. Monea made and spent millions of dollars, and now at 64, sits in prision not to be released until sometime in 2018, and...he lost the diamond. 

Sale projections of the stone are anywhere from 3 million to 20 million dollars, but the true value will be determined when the gavel drops. Buyers are anticipated to be mostly international, given the growing realization that they are the only people with the kind of disposable income required to purchase this type of stone. Americans are just too poor now, even the rich ones. 20% of the sale price will be going to the US Marshals Service, with the remaining money going to some of Monea's swindled victims and to the federal and local agencies that helped with the Monea case.