Geneva ? An 84.37-carat white diamond touted by Sotheby’s for its size and beauty sold at auction Wednesday to Guess clothing company founder Georges Marciano for just under $16.2 million.

The jewel – the largest top-quality, brilliant-cut white diamond ever to appear at auction – had been valued by Sotheby’s at between $13.3 million and $17.8 million.

Marciano’s winning bid, made by telephone, came to $16,189,769 including the buyer’s premium. It was just short of the all-time auction record for a stone or piece of jewelry, a record held by the same Sotheby’s branch in Geneva for a 100.1-carat diamond that fetched $16.5 million in 1995.