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For the cost of a decent deposit on a house you too could wear a two-carat diamond ring on your finger - with the added curiosity value that they are part of a smuggled haul.
Next week Auckland auction house Webb's is giving gem seekers and husbands-in-waiting their chance by putting a collection of dozens of seized diamonds under the hammer.
The diamonds, which Customs officials discovered during a routine check of packages at the Auckland mail centre four years ago, could be worth more than $250,000.
The pick of the bunch of the glittering jewels, which include yellow and green diamonds and several gems suitable for $700-a-pair ear studs, is a two-carat diamond with an insurable value of $58,000.
"This is near the top end, it's fine white of good clarity and very nice," said Webb's jewellery consultant Christopher Devereaux.
"There is also another good white diamond of not such good clarity but still a very good diamond."
Mr Devereaux said there was a "whole plethora of diamonds" which would satisfy the considerable interest from buyers likely to be made up of jewellers and people wanting to buy an extra-special gift for Christmas.
"It's quite a mixed bag but they're all of very good quality, there's a one-and-a-half carat princess cut diamond and several more around one carat.
"There are smaller stones, some of the parcels might have 20 or 30 diamonds in there."
The proceeds from next Wednesday's auction will go to the government's consolidated fund.
Customs investigations and response group manager, Paul Campbell said the diamonds, whose origins were unknown, were not seized when discovered but Customs executed search warrants on a local importer after he failed to declare them.
Customs seized several packets of diamonds from the man's house and other jewellers he had loaned the stones to on a consignment basis.
The man was prosecuted last year for failing to pay duty and GST on the diamonds in the Auckland District Court.
Mr Devereaux said it was unlikely there was a local black market for diamonds, despite this haul being the second consignment he has had to auction off on behalf of customs.
"The whole thing is that the costs involved with importation whether its duty or GST are recoverable in terms of a business cost so not actually paying up is such a dumb exercise.
"For the small amount of money involved, the person who was caught has lost an awful lot of money in terms of the diamonds."
