Editor’s Note
This article details the revelation behind the ‘Josephine’ diamond, a record-setting gem whose buyer named it for his young daughter. It highlights the intersection of immense wealth, personal sentiment, and the high-stakes auction world.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kang Geon-taek — ‘Just who is Josephine…’
The identity of ‘Josephine,’ who surprised the global gem auction market for two consecutive days, has been revealed as the 7-year-old daughter of a Hong Kong real estate tycoon, according to reports by AFP and the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 11th (local time).
The name Josephine became a topic of discussion after a Hong Kong collector who successfully bid on a 12.03-carat ‘Blue Moon’ diamond at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva, Switzerland, immediately renamed it ‘The Blue Moon of Josephine.’
This blue diamond, sold for 48.6 million Swiss francs (approximately 56 billion won), drew attention for breaking records as ‘the most expensive diamond,’ ‘the most expensive jewel sold at auction,’ and ‘the highest price per carat diamond.’
Interest in this diamond intensified because the day before, at a Christie’s jewelry auction also in Geneva, a 16.08-carat pink diamond sold for 28.7 million Swiss francs (approximately 33 billion won) was also named ‘Sweet Josephine.’
Foreign media reported that the collector, who secured ultra-expensive diamonds on two consecutive days and gave them a mysterious name, was identified as Hong Kong real estate tycoon Joseph Lau (Liu Luanxiong).
It appears he named the newly purchased diamonds after his 7-year-old daughter Josephine, whom he has with his girlfriend, former entertainment reporter Chan Hoi-wan.
The total price of the three ultra-expensive diamonds he purchased and named after his daughter amounts to $86.4 million (approximately 100 billion won).
According to SCMP, Lau, born in Hong Kong in 1951, graduated from university in Canada in 1974 and entered the family business of manufacturing ceiling fans. He accumulated wealth through repeated mergers and acquisitions with his brother.
He has shown deep interest in art auctions, having successfully bid on works such as Andy Warhol’s ‘Mao Zedong’ for $17.3 million and Paul Gauguin’s ‘Te Poipoi’ for $39.2 million.
In 2007, at an auction hosted by the Hong Kong government, he even purchased the car license plate ‘1 LOVE U’ for 1.4 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 200 million won) and attached it to a Mercedes-Benz sedan used by his girlfriend for commuting.
As of this month, with a total fortune of $9.8 billion (approximately 11 trillion won), he is ranked 6th on Forbes’ Hong Kong rich list and 114th on the world’s rich list.
In addition to Josephine, he has four other children from his ex-wife and former girlfriends.
In March of last year, Lau was sentenced to five years in prison for bribing a former minister in an attempt to purchase development land in Macau, but he is evading the sentence by not appearing in Macau. There is no extradition agreement between Macau and Hong Kong.
