Hong Kong – The “Infinite Blue” diamond has been sold, and for a relative bargain.
The 11.28-carat fancy vivid blue diamond was estimated to sell for between $26 million and $37 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on Thursday.
The diamond fell just short of that range when a buyer paid $25.3 million for the stone in a single lot sale.
“The Infinite Blue’s beautiful blue hue, elegant cut and unique physical characteristics make it one of the most irresistible diamonds on the market,” said Wenhao Yu, chairman of jewellery and watches at Sotheby’s Asia.
“Its price not only demonstrates the resilient demand for top-quality coloured diamonds among global collectors, but also reinforces Sotheby’s outstanding track record in Asia of selling the world’s rarest gems – the Infinite Blue is now the third most valuable blue diamond ever sold at auction in Asia.”The most expensive blue diamond ever sold at auction in Asia was the De Beers Cullinan Blue Diamond, or “De Beers Blue” for short.
The 15.10 carat step-cut fancy vivid blue diamond sold for $57.5 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong last year and is one of the most expensive jewels ever sold at auction.
Like the De Beers Blue, the Infinite Blue came from Petra Diamonds’ Cullinan mine in South Africa.
Blue diamonds weighing more than 10 carats from this mine are considered extremely rare.The second most expensive blue diamond sold at auction in Asia was the De Beers Millennium Jewel 4, one of a dozen diamonds assembled by De Beers to mark the turn of the millennium in 2000.
The 10.10-carat oval-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond sold for $31.8 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2016.
Another blue diamond will shine later this auction season when Christie’s Geneva offers the 17.61-carat ‘Bleu Royal’ diamond in November.
Claimed to be the largest internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond ever sold at auction, Christie’s has estimated that the pear-shaped stone will sell for between $35 million and $50 million.
