Editor’s Note
This week, all eyes are on Geneva as the record-breaking Oppenheimer Blue diamond goes to auction. Estimated at $38–45 million, this exceptional stone could become the world’s most expensive cut diamond.
The famous Oppenheimer Blue diamond is set to draw all eyes in Geneva, where auction house Christie’s hopes to fetch a record price for this exceptional stone, estimated between $38 and $45 million.
According to Christie’s, this blue diamond, known as the Oppenheimer Blue, could become the most expensive cut diamond in the world. It is the most expensive item up for auction this week in Geneva during the traditional May high jewelry sales organized by Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
The stone, a luminous and vivid blue, is mounted on a ring and weighs 14.62 carats. It is classified in the “Fancy vivid Blue” category, the rarest color for blue diamonds.
The current record for a blue diamond is held by the “Blue Moon of Josephine,” a 12.03-carat stone bought for $48.4 million by Hong Kong tycoon Joseph Lau in November 2015 in Geneva.
The “Oppenheimer Blue” was part of the collection of the famous London diamond dealer Sir Philip Oppenheimer (1911-1995), who controlled the global diamond market through the De Beers company. The stone was extracted from the Premier Mine in South Africa, the same location where the world’s largest diamond, the Cullinan, was discovered in 1905.
The diamond changed hands several times after Sir Philip’s death and is now being offered for public sale for the first time.
Christie’s sale, which holds prestigious high jewelry auctions in Geneva twice a year, follows that of its major competitor, Sotheby’s.
On Tuesday evening, Sotheby’s sold the largest vivid pink pear-shaped diamond ever offered at auction for $31.56 million (€27.88 million), including fees, setting a record for a vivid pink diamond.
Sotheby’s had estimated the 15.38-carat diamond, mounted on a ring, between $28 and $38 million, describing it as “exceptional.”
Discovered less than five years ago in a mine in South Africa, the diamond was cut by its seller, New York-based company Cora International.
The stone, named “Unique Pink,” was certified “Fancy vivid pink” by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the most coveted color for a pink diamond.
In an interview with AFP, Mr. Ehud Laniado, president of Cora International, said he was “very satisfied with the price achieved,” which was at the lower end of the estimate range.
Colored diamonds have been breaking record after record at auctions in recent months, and according to Mr. Laniado, this trend “should extend to white diamonds.”