LONDON, United Kingdom. The Blue Moon Diamond has been sold for a record $48.26m (£31.7m) in Geneva, according to auction house Sotheby.
The sale price is a record for any gemstone and also per carat, a spokesman said, adding that the diamond was purchased by a private collector from Hong Kong and renamed ‘The Blue Moon of Josephine’.
It was expected that the jewel would fetch between $35m and $55m and its final price surpasses the $46m record set by The Graff Pink five years ago.
The 29.62-carat diamond was found in the Cullinan Mine in South Africa in January last year, a rare find, as blue diamonds make up only 0.1% of diamonds unearthed at the mine.
It was then cut and polished in New York, a skilled process that took six months and eventually produced a 12.03-carat vivid blue gem, says Sotheby.
Almost all diamonds have tiny traces of non-crystallised carbon – the element from which they are formed. But the Blue Moon Diamond has no inclusions and has been officially declared flawless.
It was named the Blue Moon Diamond by sellers Cora International, as a tribute to its rarity.
Its record price comes the day after a spectacular pink diamond was sold for £18.8m ($28.5m) by auction house Christie’s at the same jewellery auction in Geneva.
The 16.08-carat diamond, set in a platinum and gold ring, was bought by someone only identified as a “Chinese client who lives in Hong Kong”.
The buyer named it “Sweet Josephine”.
It is not clear whether the same collector bought both diamonds.
Credit: Sky News
