Bulgari Blue Diamond Fetches $15.7M at Auction

The Bulgari Blue Diamond, the largest triangular-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond ever to appear at auction, sold for $15.7 million—making it the top jewel sold at auction thus far in 2010. The gem, mounted as a two-stone diamond ring designed in the 1970s by the House of Bulgari in Rome, was the star lot of Christie’s “Jewels: The New York Sale” on October 20.

After five minutes of bidding, the hammer fell to an unidentified Asian collector who paid a world record price per carat for a blue diamond.

“The bidding opened with an $8 million bid from a client on the phone with Vickie Sek, Christie’s head of Jewelry for Asia,” said François Curiel, president of Christie’s Asia and international head of Jewelry at Christie’s. “It swiftly turned into a one-on-one bidding war with a European collector on the phone with Rahul Kadakia, head of Jewelry for Christie’s Americas. The pair traded bids back and forth in $500,000 increments until the final bid was reached.”

The ring features a triangular-shaped colorless diamond of 9.87 cts. paired with a triangular-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond of 10.95 cts. Fancy vivid blue diamonds are among the rarest and most sought-after of colored diamonds, as only one in about 10 million possess a color pure enough to qualify as “fancy vivid.” Due to their rarity and increasingly limited supply, demand has rapidly driven prices to great heights, with particular strength seen for those stones weighing more than 10 cts., Christies said. Large, natural blue diamonds, in particular those possessing the coveted vivid blue tone and saturation, have become highly prized on the international market.

The ring was offered for sale by a private European collector who has kept the ring in his family for almost 40 years. He had originally purchased the ring at the Bulgari flagship boutique on Via dei Condotti in Rome in 1972, as a gift for his wife in celebration of the birth of their first child, a baby boy. The final sale price in 1972 was about $1 million.

The Bulgari Blue provided a dramatic finish to the 447-lot auction and brought the collective total to $52.5 million. Earlier in the day, Christie’s achieved an impressive 100 percent sell-through rate for Jeweled Elegance: The Eye of A Distinguished Collector, a single-owner collection of signed jewels from celebrated designers, including Cartier, David Webb, Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston. The entire morning session of the October 20 auction was devoted to this assemblage of more than 160 individual pieces, which raised $11.4 million, far above its pre-sale high estimate.

Rare 7.59-Carat Round Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond to be Auctioned at Sotheby’s Hong Kong

The Premier Blue Photo credit: AFP/Getty

Sotheby’s Hong Kong is offering the Premier Blue, a 7.59-carat round fancy vivid blue diamond, as one of the top lots in its Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Autumn Sale scheduled for October 7 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. 

This brilliant-cut internally flawless gem is the largest round fancy vivid blue diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America. The estimate is available upon request. However, a 6.01-carat fancy vivid blue diamond sold in 2011 at Sotheby's Hong Kong for more than $1.68 million, an auction record for the per-carat price of a fancy vivid blue diamond. The Premier Blue is expected to sell for far more, according to reports.

Sotheby’s said the round brilliant cut is rarely used in colored diamonds due to the high waste involved in the cutting process. “No significant round fancy vivid blue diamond has ever appeared at auction worldwide thus making the Premier Blue a rare and exceptional gem,” the auction house said.

The Premier Blue will be previewed throughout Asia as well as in Geneva, London, New York and Doha at before the auction in Hong Kong.

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Harry Winston Buys World’s Largest Flawless Vivid Blue Diamond For $23.8M and Names it ‘The Winston Blue’

Meet “The Winston Blue,” considered the world’s largest known flawless vivid blue diamond. Harry Winston purchased the sparkling gem for nearly $23.8 million at Christie’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale. At nearly $1,800 per carat, the price per carat paid for the 13.22-carat stone represents a world record for a blue diamond.

It is the second major diamond purchase by Harry Winston since it was acquired by the Swatch Group, one of the world’s largest watch and jewelry conglomerates. Last year, Harry Winston purchased a 101.73-carat colorless diamond for a world record $26.7 million ($254,400 per carat), at Christie’s Geneva jewelry auction.

The Winston Blue was easily the top lot of Wednesday’s auction, which realized more than $154.1 million, with 85 percent sold by lot and 94 percent by value. It achieved the highest total ever for a Jewelry sale in auction history, beating the Christie’s New York December 2013 Elizabeth Taylor jewelry sale, which totaled $137.2 million over a two-day period. The other top lots included:

* Belle Epoque diamond Devant-de-Corsage brooch, by Cartier that sold for more than $17.5 million. 

* A 75.97-carat pear-shaped D color, flawless diamond that sold for more than $14.4 million.

* A 76.51-carat cut-cornered square-cut light pink, VVS1 diamond necklace for $10 million, a world auction record for a light pink diamond. by Leviev $130,712 per carat. 

* The “Ocean Dream,” A 5.50-carat triangular-cut fancy vivid blue-green, SI1 diamond that sold for more than $8.6 million, a world auction record for a blue-green diamond.

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