A rare blue diamond exceptional in both size and beauty is expected to fetch nearly $50 million when it heads to auction in Hong Kong in the spring.
The “flawless” De Beers Cullinan Blue Diamond is the first of its kind to top 15 carats, according to Sotheby’s, which is brokering the sale. Only five other auctioned blue diamonds have ever tipped the scale at more than 10 carats.
The stone received the highest possible color rating, Fancy Vivid Blue, achieved by only 1% of diamonds submitted to the Gemological Institute of America, which also rated its clarity as “internally flawless,” according to the press release.
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“Blue diamonds of any kind are rare on the market, but this is the rarest of the rare; nothing of remotely similar caliber has appeared at auction in recent years,” Patti Wong, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner. “Brought to dazzling life by the hand of one of the world’s most skillful cutters, it is the ultimate masterpiece — as rare and desirable as the very greatest works of art.”
The diamond was discovered in the Cullinan diamond mine in South Africa in April 2021. The mine has provided several exceptional blue diamonds, including the 12-carat Blue Moon of Josephine, which in 2015 sold for $48.5 million and holds the record for highest price-per-carat gem sale at auction.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group, which bought the diamond from the mine, said the De Beers Cullinan Blue is “one of the best” diamonds the company has ever seen.
Sotheby’s decision to auction the diamond in Hong Kong reflects the luxury market’s shift toward Asia. All but one of the last six Sotheby’s blue diamonds were auctioned in Geneva or New York. The number of bidders from Asia participating in Sotheby’s auctions has increased by 60% since 2019, with Asian bidders willing to pay double that of bidders elsewhere, the auction house said.
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“As the results demonstrate, Asian collectors are a big force in today’s art market, and particularly at the top end, where they account for almost half of the activity on higher value lots sold at Sotheby’s, worldwide,” Wong said in the 2021 regional year-end report. “Their bids carry a lot of punch too: when Asian collectors really want something, they are rarely constrained by auction estimates.”
The De Beers Cullinan Blue may fetch far beyond its $48 million estimate when it hits the market in late April.
