Editor’s Note
This season’s auction highlight is a true rarity: a 23.24-carat vivid blue Golconda diamond with royal provenance, set in a ring by JAR. As the largest of its kind ever offered at auction, it is expected to fetch over €46 million when Christie’s presents it in Geneva on May 14.
A museum-quality diamond, royal provenance, and an estimated value exceeding 46 million euros: the Golconda Blue has all the makings of a highlight piece for this auction season…
Christie’s will auction on May 14th in Geneva a diamond rare like no other: a 23.24-carat fancy vivid blue Golconda diamond, set in a ring by the exclusive Parisian jeweler JAR. This is the largest diamond of this color category ever offered at auction. Estimated yield? Between 32.5 and 46.5 million euros.
The stone has a remarkable origin. Once owned by Yeshwant Rao Holkar, the charismatic Maharaja of Indore, and his wife Krishna Bai Holkar, both style icons in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1923, the Maharaja brought the diamond to Paris to have it set in a bracelet by Chaumet. Ten years later, the stone was reset again, this time into a necklace by Mauboussin, who named Holkar its official jeweler in 1933. The necklace was worn by the Maharani and is depicted in a famous portrait.
In 1947, the diamond was purchased by Harry Winston, nicknamed the king of diamonds. He combined the blue stone with an equally sized white diamond in a brooch, which was sold to the Maharaja of Baroda. Winston later repurchased the piece and sold it in a form adapted to the current owner.
For the first time in its rich history, the diamond is now being offered to the public.
The most expensive blue diamond to date was the 15.10-carat “The Bleu Royal,” which was sold at auction at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong in 2022 for 53.5 million euros.
