‘Blue Moon’ diamond sets record for a jewel at auction
GENEVA — An exceptionally large blue diamond sold Wednesday for 48.6 million Swiss francs ($64.9 million Cdn) — a new record price for any jewel at auction, Sotheby’s said. The sale was at a Geneva auction, one of two where a Hong Kong collector bought a rare coloured diamond to honour someone named Josephine.
The 12.03-carat “Blue Moon” diamond, set in a ring, was said to be among the largest known fancy vivid blue diamonds and was the showpiece gem at the Sotheby’s jewelry auction. A packed room broke into applause after the hammer came down at a price of 43.2 million Swiss francs ($56.8 million Cdn) excluding fees — within the pre-auction estimate range.
The Blue Moon — socalled in reference to its rarity, playing off the expression “once in a blue moon” — topped the previous record of $46.2 million set five years ago by the Graff Pink, Sotheby’s said. The diamond also set a new record of more than $4 million per carat, capping the daylong high-end jewelry sale that reaped roughly $186 million Cdn.
On its Twitter account, Sotheby’s said the jewel was purchased by a Hong Kong private collector and was promptly renamed “The Blue Moon of Josephine” — a similar name to one given to a pink diamond ring that sold for $28.5 million at Christie’s in Geneva a day earlier: “Sweet Josephine.” That too was bought by a Hong Kong collector who was not publicly identified.