GENEVA — The rare and flawless “Blue Moon Diamond” sold for $48.4 million to a Hong Kong buyer on Wednesday, setting a world record for a gemstone at auction, Sotheby’s said.
The cushion-shaped diamond, mounted on a ring, has the top grading of fancy vivid blue and weighs 12.03 carats. It had a pre-sale estimate of $35 million to $55 million.
“It is a new record price for any gemstone and per carat,” David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s international jewelry division, told a packed showroom in Geneva.
The Hong Kong buyer promptly renamed it “The Blue Moon of Josephine,” Bennett told ɾєρօɾτers. It raised the per-carat record to more than $4 million.
At rival Christie’s on Tuesday, a large diamond of a rare pink hue fetched $28.55 million.
Christie’s said that stone, named “The Sweet Josephine” by the Hong Kong-based Chinese client who bought it, set a world record for any pink diamond ever offered at auction.
The same buyer was believed to have bought both stones at the semi-annual sales in the Swiss city.
“For me, the Blue Moon was always the blue diamond of my career. I’ve never seen a more beautiful stone — its shape, color and purity. It’s a magical stone,” Bennett said.
The previous record was held by the Graff Pink of 24.78 carats, sold by Sotheby’s for $46.2 million in Nov. 2010.
The blue diamond was found in South Africa’s famed Cullinan mine in January 2014.
The distinctive blue color in diamonds is attributed to trace amounts of the element boron in the crystal structure.
