Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Getty Images
The world’s largest blue diamond, called “De Beers Cullinan Blue”, was sold this week for $.5 million dollars at auction at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong.
This one-of-a-kind diamond of 15.10 carats, would sell for about $48 million, but an anonymous buyer insured the gem over the phone after an eight-minute bidding war between four potential buyers.
The diamond comes from the Cullinan mine in South Africa and was obtained in 2021, according to a press release from Sotheby’s.
Since then, he has reached all rankings higher in which colored diamonds are evaluated.
This classification has been awarded to no more than 1% of the blue diamonds presented to the organization.
Second most expensive sold at auction
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) classified the gem as “vivid, graceful blue”, the highest color classification in its class.
“Blue diamonds of this importance are exceptionally rare, with only five specimens over 10 carats that have come up for auction, none of which have exceeded 15 carats, making the appearance of this flawless gem a milestone in itself,” said a statement from Sotheby’s.
With a final price of $60.471 million dollars, “The De Beers Cullinan Blue” came close to setting the record of the most expensive blue diamond ever sold at auction.
That title still has the “Oppenheimer Blue” from 14.62 carats, which was sold at 2016 with a final price of $57.773 million dollars, a difference of just under $70, Dollars.
“It is truly a unique stone in a generation, and simply the largest blue diamond of its size I have ever seen,” Patti Wong, president of Sotheby’s Asia, said in a statement.
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