Sotheby’s will offer a ring with a 10.03-carat blue diamond at its upcoming Geneva jewelry sale, pricing it in “the region” of $20 million, but dealers think it will fetch more.
The Mediterranean Blue, a cushion modified brilliant-cut, fancy-vivid-blue, VS2-clarity, type IIb diamond, will be a headliner at the May 13 High Jewelry sale, Sotheby’s said Wednesday. The auction will mark the diamond’s debut on the market.
The stone hails from Petra Diamonds’ Cullinan mine in South Africa. Recovered in 2023 as a 31.94-carat rough, the stone was studied for more than a year before entering into a six-month manufacturing process, Sotheby’s explained.
Rather than giving the diamond a firm price, Sotheby’s has assigned it an estimate “in the region” of $20 million to “let the market decide” its value, a company spokesperson told Rapaport News. Other blue diamonds of the same caliber from the Cullinan mine include The Blue Moon of Josephine, a cushion-shaped, 12.03-carat, fancy-vivid-blue, internally flawless stone that Sotheby’s sold in Geneva in 2015 for $48.5 million, and the De Beers Blue, a step-cut, 15.10-carat, fancy-vivid blue that garnered $57.5 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2022.
However, Leibish Polnauer, owner of Israel-based colored diamond trader Leibish & Co., believes the stone could fetch over $30 million, noting its exceptional quality, and the fact that the market for blues is hot right now, and not affected by the general downturn in the main diamond market.
Harsh Maheshwari, executive director at colored-diamond trading house Kunming Diamonds, agrees that the stone will likely fetch a higher price tag than estimated.
“After Covid-19, the blue diamond market showed some softness, but today, despite global economic uncertainties, I see this as a prime buyer’s market for such rare gems,” he said. “A 10-carat-plus, VS, vivid-blue diamond is truly exceptional, and its saturated color and size set it apart from regular demand.”
Despite the softer Hong Kong and China market, where such large, colored diamonds prove the most popular, Maheshwari sees a different market for these stones emerging.
“Launching in the Middle East post-Ramadan is strategic, especially with the wedding season approaching,” he explained. “While the Hong Kong and China markets might be less active right now, there’s still strong interest from collectors in the Middle East and the US. The diamond’s conservative pricing should spark competitive bids, attracting a diverse range of buyers and it has the potential to capture the attention of collectors and investors worldwide.”
The auction house will unveil the diamond at a special exhibition at Bassam Freiha Art Foundation in Abu Dhabi on April 8, it noted. Before the piece goes on the auction block in Geneva, Sotheby’s will also showcase it in Tapei, Taiwan; Hong Kong; and New York.
“The Mediterranean Blue represents one of nature’s rarest gems,” said Quig Bruning, head of jewelry for the Americas and Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA). “Any vivid-blue diamond is a discovery worth celebrating, but one as entrancing as this, particularly being over 10 carats, is a newsworthy event. The Mediterranean Blue…is in the rarefied company of some of the most important blue diamonds to come to market in recent years.”
Image: The Mediterranean Blue. (Sotheby’s)
