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‘Cullinan Dream’ to Lead Christie’s New York Auction
May 25, 2016 10:19 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... The largest fancy intense blue diamond ever offered at auction
is to go under the hammer at Christie’s New York next month.
The auctioneer expects the cut-cornered rectangular
mixed-cut, 24.18-carat, VS2 gem named the ‘Cullinan Dream’ to fetch $23 million
to $29 million, or up to $1.2 million per carat, at the sale at the Rockefeller
Center on June 9. The diamond is flanked on either side by a tapered baguette-cut
diamond weighing a total of 2.36 carats.
The polished
diamond comes from a 122.52 carat blue rough stone that Petra Diamonds discovered at its Cullinan mine
in South Africa in June 2014. Petra sold the gem into a cutting-and-polishing partnership
in September 2014 for $23.5 million.
The rough blue stone was cut into four polished diamonds of
which ‘Cullinan Dream’ is the heaviest. The other three polished stones weighed
7 carats, 10.30 carats and 11.30 carats. Petra will receive a further 15
percent of proceeds from the sale of the ‘Cullinan Dream.’
Another rough diamond that Petra also found at the Cullinan mine led to the creation of the 12.03-carat
‘Blue Moon,’ which sold for $48.5 million at Sotheby’s Geneva in November.
Other items on sale at the Christie’s ‘Magnificent Jewels
& The Cullinan Dream’ auction in June include an oval brilliant-cut, 52.76
carat, K, VS2 diamond estimated at $1.8 million to $2.2 million, or up to
$41,698 per carat.
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Tags:
Auctions, Christie's, colored diamonds, fancy blue diamonds, Petra Diamonds, Rapaport News
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