The luminous Blue Moon diamond, named in part due to its exquisite rarity, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s November auction. Weighing in at 12.03 carats, the “Blue Moon” diamond is a simply sensational stone of flawless colour and purity, combined with a superb cushion shape.
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Sotheby’s plans to auction a blue diamond that it estimates may be worth 34 million Swiss francs (S$49.1 million), which would break the record for a stone of that hue.
The Gemological Institute of America has declared the Blue Moon to be “internally flawless”.
The Blue Moon diamond was found in South Africa’s Cullinan Mine and has been shown around the world with onlookers admiring its radiance and shine, which some say is magical.
If it sells for this price, it will smash the current world auction record for a diamond or any jewel which now stands at $46.1m – around £29.6m – for The Graff Pink sold at Sotheby’s in November 2010.
The diamond was drawn from a 29.62-carat rough blue diamond that was discovered by Petra Diamonds at its Cullinan mine in South Africa previous year . It will be a major highlight at the sale slated in Geneva on November 11, 2015. Cora worldwide , a New York- based gem-cutter, purchased the rock and took more than six months to prepare the stone. The GIA Monograph notes the singularity of the gem’s spectacular blue, which “could be indescribable to even the most experienced diamantaire or colour theorist; some, however, liken it to the ocean”.
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The diamond’s name makes reference to the idiom “once in a blue moon”, as is very rare to find one of that shade and clarity.
