The famous 32.01 square Annenberg diamond sold at auction to an unnamed phone buyer on Wednesday.  The diamond, known for it`s near-flawlessness, was bought by Leonore Annenberg for her 90th birthday.  She died in March at age 91.  Christie`s auction house had the gem delivered to her by armed guards in celebration of her birthday. 

Annenberg served as the US Chief of Protocol during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, a position that granted her diplomatic status.  Her husband, Walter Annenberg, was a billionaire who was both a publisher and the Ambassador to England under Richard Nixon.  The Annenberg name gave the diamond even further importance.  Richard Annenberg died in 2002.

The Emerald-Cut diamond is set in a ring designed by New York jeweler David Webb, who flanked the center walnut-sized stone with pear-shaped diamonds, one weighing 1.61 carats, and the other 1.51 carats.  Although Christie`s set the pre-sale estimate for the masterpiece at $3-$5 million, it was clearly coveted by many, and well exceeded expectations. 

At an earlier Christie`s auction in May, a 30-carat square-cut diamond sold for $3.1 million.  The highest price ever paid for a diamond at auction was the Wittelsback Diamond, a 17th-Century gray-blue 35.56-carat gem.  It sold for a whopping $24.3 million in December of 2008. 

The diamond was put up for sale as part of the Annenberg estate.