A Blue Diamond worth $35 Million? Meet the De Beers Millennium
March 15th, 2016 by Noam Flint
It has been almost 5 months since the last diamond and jewelry auctions occurred at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in Geneva. In November, fancy color diamonds made headlines when a 16 carat vivid pink diamond and an Internally Flawless 12.03 carat Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond were both sold for record breaking prices, and to the same buyer – a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong.
This turn of events has left the entire market on the edge of its seat waiting to see what will happen with the fancy color diamonds at the next auction, which is the incumbent one this month in Hong Kong. Will more records be broken?
Once in a Millennium – 10 carat Flawless Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond
The De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 – 10ct Vivid Blue Diamond
Image: Sotheby’s
Among the fancy color diamonds up for auction is the 10.10 carat Fancy Vivid Blue IF oval shaped diamond called the De Beers Millennium Jewel 4.
Sotheby’s states that it is the largest oval vivid blue diamond ever put up at auction. This impressive diamond hails from the Cullinan Mine in South Africa, the source of many famous gems, and was one of 12 displayed at London’s Millennium Dome to mark the year 2000. According to Sotheby’s, there are only about a dozen blue diamonds over 10 carats in the entire world, which makes this diamond extremely rare. This rarity is what ensures its desirability, despite the fact that the Chinese economy has taken such a hit in recent months.
The Blue Moon Diamond
The auction house estimates that the diamond will sell for $30 million – $35 million and is confident that its being put up for sale in the Asian market will not affect its ability to be sold.
No doubt they hope that the buyer of the 12.03 Fancy Vivid Blue ‘Blue Moon of Josephine’ in November will take interest in this blue diamond as well.
Blue diamonds do so well at auctions because buyers love them both for their looks and for their investment potential. Blue diamonds of certain characteristics have been proven to increase as much as 400% in value over significant periods of time. With historical data as proof, many people choose blue diamonds as their ideal diamond color, and even wear it as jewelry and enjoy it in that way as well.
The De-Beers Millennium Jewel 4
Do you think that the De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 will earn even its low estimate of $30 million?
Will it break the records that were set by the Blue Moon in November?
Will the same buyer buy this blue diamond as well?
To answer these (and more) we’ll have to wait till April 5th…
