A Very Fine Sapphire and Diamond Ring more than doubled its presale high estimate, finally selling for CHF 3.2 million ($3.2 million).
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The polished blue gem was cut from a 29.6-carat diamond discovered previous year in South Africa’s Cullinan mine, which also yielded the 530-carat Star of Africa blue diamond that’s part of the British crown jewels and the Smithsonian Institution’s “Blue Heart”, discovered in 1908.
Lau was locked in a telephone bidding war for eight minutes for “Blue Moon” before the hammer went down, with the precious jewel staying within its pre-sale estimate of US$35-55 million.
The diamond, which was renamed the “Blue Moon of Josephine”, was bought by Hong Kong businessman Joseph Lau for his seven-year-old daughter.
A spectacular pink diamond, the largest of its kind to ever appear at auction, sold for $28.5 million (26.6 million euros) on Tuesday, narrowly beating auction house Christie’s projection.
François Curiel, Christie’s president for Asia, identified the buyer only as a “Chinese client who lives in Hong Kong”.
Sotheby’s employee displays the rare Blue Moon Diamond during a preview.
The buyer named it “Sweet Josephine”.
Cora global LLC announced that the exceptional 12.03-carat Blue Moon Diamond has today been sold for $43.2 million.
The distinctive blue colour in diamonds is attributed to trace amounts of the element boron in the crystal structure. “It’s a magical stone”, Bennett stated.
Royal jewels, coloured gemstones, and designer pieces by Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, and Harry Winston were among 410 lots that found new owners, bringing $139 million.
Sotheby’s revealed only that the diamond was purchased by a private collector from Hong Kong.
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Since 1904 the mine has produced almost 800 stones greater than 100 carats and over a quarter of the world’s diamonds above 400 carats.
