Editor’s Note
This article reports on the historic auction of the Oppenheimer Blue diamond at Christie’s in Geneva, which achieved a record-breaking sale price. The text appears to be truncated.
The famous Oppenheimer Blue Diamond broke all records on the evening of Wednesday, May 18th in Geneva, at Christie’s high jewelry auction.
The stone, of an exceptional vivid blue and mounted on a ring, was sold for a record price of $57.54 million after more than 20 minutes of passionate bidding between two anonymous enthusiasts.
declared a Christie’s spokesperson.
The stone weighs 14.62 carats. It is classified in the “Fancy vivid Blue” category, the rarest color for blue diamonds.
The previous record for a blue diamond was held by the “Blue Moon of Josephine”, weighing 12.03 carats, which was purchased for $48.4 million by Hong Kong tycoon Joseph Lau in November 2015 in Geneva. It was also the most expensive jewel in the world at the time.
The “Oppenheimer Blue” was part of the collection of the famous London diamond merchant Sir Philip Oppenheimer (1911-1995), who controlled the world diamond market through the De Beers company. The stone was extracted from the Premier mine in South Africa, the same location where, in 1905, the world’s largest diamond, the Cullinan, was discovered.
The diamond changed hands several times after Sir Philip’s death and was offered for public sale for the first time.
Christie’s sale, which organizes prestigious high jewelry auctions twice a year in Geneva, took place the day after that of its major competitor, Sotheby’s.
On Tuesday evening, Sotheby’s sold the largest pear-cut vivid pink diamond ever offered at auction for $31.56 million (€27.88 million), including fees.
assured David Bennett, head of Sotheby’s jewelry division and auctioneer for the evening, who specified that the buyer was an Asian enthusiast.
Sotheby’s had estimated this 15.38-carat diamond, mounted on a ring, at 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, the company Cora International, headquartered in New York.
The stone, named “Unique Pink”, was certified “Fancy vivid pink”, the most coveted color for a pink diamond, by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
In an interview with AFP, Mr. Ehud Laniado, president of Cora International, said he was “very satisfied with the price obtained”, even though it was at the lower end of the estimate range.
he said, adding that colored diamonds are becoming investments, on par with art.
he added.
Colored diamonds have been breaking record after record at auctions for several months and, according to Mr. Laniado, this trend “should extend to white diamonds”.
About ten days ago, on May 9th, a rough, i.e., uncut, diamond weighing 813 carats was sold over-the-counter by the Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond for a record price of $63 million.