The largest vivid blue diamond ever sold at auction has fetched a staggering £39million.
The 15.10 carat De Beers Blue diamond became one of the most valuable diamonds ever to be offered at auction after going on sale with Sotheby’sHong Kongtoday.
The stone, which sold for £2million over its estimated price afterseven minutes of bidding, is the biggest step cut vivid blue diamond ever to be graded by the Gemological Institute of America.
Only five blue diamonds over 10 carats had ever been auctioned before today and this is the first one to exceed 15 carats.
The ɾօυɢҺ stone was discovered by Petral Diamonds in South Africa’s Cullinan mine in April 2021.
Three months later, De Beers and Diacore bought the stone for $40.2m, renaming it the De Beers Cullinan Blue, with Diacore manufacturing the polished diamond.
The Cullinan mine is the source of the largest gem-quality ɾօυɢҺ diamond ever found – the Cullinan Diamond which was unearthed in 1905.
The two largest stones cut from that historic ɾօυɢҺ diamond are today part of the Crown Jewels and seven other major diamonds from it are privately owned by the Queen.
Prior to the sale, the diamond went on show in New York, London, Dubai, UAE, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Taipei.
Ahead of the sale, Sotheby’s Senior Vice President and Sales Director for Jewelry Frank Everett said the De Beers Cullinan Blue diamond is remarkable on many levels.
‘It’s rare because of the size. It’s over 15 carats. It’s a vivid blue. It’s internally flawless. And really one of the most rare aspects of it is the cut,’ he said.
‘I think we’re going to see tremєɴԀous interest in this stone when it finally comes to auction.
‘The market is very strong for jewelry at the moment, has been really for the last several years, but one of the strongest segments is colored diamonds. And one of the strongest colors is blue.’
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) graded the diamond a Fancy Vivid Blue — the highest possible color grading according to Sotheby’s, awarded to no more than 1 per cent of blue diamonds submitted to the GIA.
‘Blue diamonds of any kind are rare on the market, but this is the rarest of the rare; nothing of remotely similar calibre has appeared at auction in recent years,’ Patti Wong, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said in the press ȿτɑτємєɴτ, according toCNN.
‘Hundreds of millions of years in the making, this extraordinary blue diamond is surely one of nature’s finest creations. Now bɾօυɢҺt to dazzling life by the hand of one of the world’s most skillful cutters, it is the ultimate masterpiece — as rare and desirable as the very greatest works of art.’
