Christie’s Sets $50M Price Tag for Blue Diamond

A  fancy-vivid-blue diamond with a high estimate of $50 million will be the star of an upcoming Geneva jewelry auction at Christie’s.

The pear-shaped, 17.61-carat Bleu Royal diamond is the largest internally flawless gem of its color ever to appear at auction, Christie’s said Monday. It will headline the November 7 Magnificent Jewels sale.

The stone has spent the past 50 years in a private collection. Now set in a ring, it is entering the auction market for the first time, Christie’s announced.

The auction house has sold only three other fancy-vivid-blue diamonds over 10 carats: the 10.95-carat Bulgari Blue, which fetched $15.8 million in New York in 2010; the Winston Blue, a 13.22-carat stone that garnered $23.8 million in Geneva in 2014; and the 14.62-carat Oppenheimer Blue, which brought in $57.5 million at a 2016 Geneva sale.

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“This is a true miracle of nature,” said Rahul Kadakia, international head of jewelry for Christie’s. “Over our 257-year-long history, Christie’s has had the privilege of offering the world’s rarest gems at auction, and Bleu Royal continues this tradition.”

Christie’s will preview the diamond first in Hong Kong, then Beijing and Shanghai, China, followed by Taipei, Taiwan, and finally New York before bringing it to Geneva.

Main image: The Bleu Royal diamond. (Christie’s)