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Blue Moon Sold for $48.5M in Diamond ‘Record’
Nov 12, 2015 2:10 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Sotheby’s has auctioned the 12.03-carat Blue Moon diamond
for $48.5 million, setting what the auctioneer claims is a world record for a
diamond of any color.
The internally flawless diamond with “truly outstanding”
color sold at a Sotheby’s sale in Geneva on November 11, breaking the previous
record set when the auction house sold the 24.78-carat Graff Pink diamond for
$46.2 million in the same city in 2010.
The Blue Moon was expected to go for between $35 million and
$55 million. The eventual selling price represents a price per carat of more
than $4 million, which Sotheby’s also described as an auction record – beating
the $3.3 million-per-carat Zoe Diamond.
The
stone was sold by New York jewelry company Cora International and the buyer is
based in Hong Kong.
Cora
chairman Ehud Laniado said in a
statement: “It took Cora
experts five months to assess the rough stone originally unearthed from the
Cullinan mine in South Africa. They then created 30 models of the diamond and
cut each one differently until they achieved the perfect result. It took three
more months to bring the Blue Moon diamond to its ultimate spectacular shape
using advanced technology and sophisticated tools.
“A jeweler has the chance to handle a unique
diamond like this only once in a lifetime if they’re lucky and we are thrilled
at Cora to have had this opportunity.”
Other stones sold at the Geneva tender included a fancy vivid purple-pink diamond ring, which sold for $13.9 million, described as an auction record for a fancy vivid pink diamond. A sapphire and diamond ring more
than doubled its presale high estimate, selling for $3.2 million, while a ruby,
sapphire and diamond bar brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels beat expectations
fivefold by selling for $2.5 million, Sotheby’s said.
Sotheby's sold a total of $139.1 million at the magnificent jewels and noble jewels auction, with 83 percent sold by lot.
The Sotheby’s sale comes on the heels of Christie’s selling
the 16.08-carat ‘Sweet Josephine’ pink diamond for $28.6 million in Geneva on
November 10 to a Chinese buyer.
UK newspaper The Guardian reported that both the Blue Moon and Sweet Josephine were bought by Hong Kong real estate investor Joseph Lau, who then renamed them after his seven-year-old daughter on purchase. He changed the blue diamond's name to 'Blue Moon of Josephine.'
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Tags:
Auctions, blue diamonds, Blue Moon, colored diamonds, geneva, Rapaport News, Sotheby's
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