10.3-ct Fancy Vivid Blue Could Sell for $20m
March 19, 25
(IDEX Online) - One of the world's largest blue diamonds - a fancy vivid 10.3-carat VS2 cushion modified brilliant gem - is to be sold by Sotheby's Geneva with a $20m estimate.
The Mediterranean Blue was cut from a Type IIb 31.94 carat rough recovered at the iconic Cullinan mine, in South Africa, in 2023.
The gem will be displayed in Abu Dhabi, Tapei, Hong Kong and New York before the sale at Sotheby's High Jewelry Sale on 13 May.
"The Mediterranean Blue's remarkable size, charming cushion-cut and ocean-blue colour places it in the rarefied company of some of the most important blue diamonds to come to market in recent years," said Quig Bruning, Sotheby's head of jewelry, Americas & EMEA.
The world auction record for a fancy vivid blue diamond is held by the 14.62-carat Oppenheimer Blue, which sold for $57.8m at Christie's Geneva in May 2016.
It is closely followed by the De Beers Blue, a 15.10-carat step-cut fancy vivid blue, which sold $57.5m in 2022 at Sotheby's Hong Kong.
Pic of The Mediterranean Blue courtesy Sotheby's.