Emily Chan
If you were hoping to save up enough to snag this sparkling blue gem one day, I’m sorry to tell you that you’re out of luck!
The “Bleu Royal” diamond is considered one of the rarest blue diamonds in the world. It recently sold for $43.8 million at Christie’s auction, far surpassing its estimated sale price and becoming one of the highest-priced pieces of jewelry ever to be sold at any auction house.
It had originally been expected to fetch $35 million. According to Christie’s website, the flawless pear-shaped stone is 17.61 carats and is set upon a ring made from platinum and rose gold.
The blue gem is flanked on either side by two smaller diamonds, which are 3.12 carats each.
The head of jewelry at Christie’s, Max Fawcett, expressed his satisfaction with the sale and noted that the fancy diamond had sold for a record-breaking price at nearly $2.5 million per carat. The unique color and shape of the diamond garnered a lot of interest.
“It really ticked all the boxes, which is why we managed to excite collectors all around the world, all the way from the Far East, also to America,” said Fawcett. “We’re extremely delighted with the result.”
After an intense round of bidding between three potential buyers that lasted for about seven minutes, it was secured by an anonymous private collector. For the first time in forty years, the blue diamond will be moved over to another private collection.
The sale has proven that there is a strong market for colored stones and diamonds in general. Many collectors in the jewelry world are out there hunting down the best and most beautiful rare gems.
Christie’s was founded in 1766, but in all that time, only three other blue diamonds have been put on auction, and all the sales occurred during the past 13 years.
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