A range of diamonds over 10.8ct was offered at the auction held in New York, with more than 30 firms from the US, Israel, Belgium, India and the UAE in attendance.

Alrosa board member and director of its United Selling Organisation, Evgeny Agureev said 90% of the auctioned stones had been sold and overall sales exceeded the total opening bid by 50%.

"In general, the market today is experiencing an increase in activity and interest in our products maintains stable… Today this is the highest revenue from single auction since we resumed the operations of our US office, which is now headed by Rebecca Foerster," he said.

Alrosa resumed its operations in New York last year, holding two auctions to raise $18.3 million. It plans to hold four in the US this year.