Sotheby’s is set to offer an 11.16-carat, fancy-vivid-blue diamond at its upcoming Geneva Luxury Week, where it is expected to fetch more than $25 million.
Known as the Bulgari Laguna Blu, the pear-shaped stone is currently owned by a European collector who bought it from Bulgari when the jewelry house debuted it in 1979, Sotheby’s said last week. It is the largest blue diamond ever set in a Bulgari piece and still ranks as the most valuable gem the jeweler has sold.
“The Bulgari Laguna Blu is an extraordinary gem in every way,” said Olivier Wagner, head of jewelry at Sotheby’s Geneva. “This unmodified pear-shaped, blue diamond has received the highest grade for a blue diamond by the Gemological Institute of America [GIA], acknowledging its mesmerizing color and hue. [It] is bound to become the object of any collector’s dream.”
Sotheby’s will exhibit the Bulgari Laguna Blu at the Met Gala in New York on May 1, before putting it on the auction block at the Geneva sale, which will take place during the May 12 to 16 luxury week.
The diamond is part of a wider collection from the same consignor. Other pieces from that group include a step-cut, 18.78-carat, white diamond estimated at up to $1.4 million and a pear-shaped, 12.08-carat, white diamond with an upper price tag of $700,000. Bulgari created both in the early 1970s. A pear-shaped, 8.33-carat, white diamond from the same seller rounds out the collection. That item, signed by Italian designer Pederzani, has a high presale estimate of $500,000.
Similar blue diamonds have garnered high prices at auction. Last year, Sotheby’s sold the De Beers Blue, a step-cut, 15.10-carat, fancy-vivid-blue diamond, for $57.5 million in Hong Kong. Meanwhile the Blue Moon of Josephine, a cushion-shaped, 12.03-carat, fancy-vivid-blue diamond, brought in $48.5 million at Sotheby’s Geneva in 2015.
Image: Sotheby’s Bulgari Laguna Blu black background. (Sotheby’s)
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