This weekend, Christie’s announced that a two-stone diamond ring that features one extremely rare fancy triangular cut blue diamond the size of an American quarter will be auctioned off on October 20th.
According to Christie’s announcement, the 10.95 carat blue stone incorporated in this exquisite two-stone ring set in yellow gold is the largest triangular-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond ever auctioned. The unusual blue stone is prong set along with a 9.87 carat triangular cut white diamond and accented by several baguette cut diamonds that hug the yellow gold band. The two diamonds were specially cut to be set together in a single piece of jewelry.
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) said that the blue stone up for auction is the largest triangular-shaped fancy vivit blue diamond that they have ever graded. According to Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s jewelry expert, “Vivid blue is the strongest and purest saturation in any colored diamond.”
Blue diamonds are extremely rare stones, accounting for approximately 0.0001% of all diamonds produced worldwide. Of these blue diamonds, fancy vivid blue are the rarest. These are diamonds with the perfect color tone and color saturation according to the GIA color grading scale.
This diamond ring will be another notable sale from Christie’s, who already holds the record for the most expensive diamond ever sold at an auction. In 2008 Christie’s sold the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond, 35.56 carat 17th-century fancy deep grayish-blue gemstone, for $24.3 million.
A 7.03-carat cushion-cut blue diamond sold at Sotheby's last year for $9.5 million and broke the record for the highest price ever paid for a fancy vivid blue diamond. Taking that previous sale into consideration, this extraordinary two-stone diamond and gold ring designed by the Italian luxury jeweler Bulgari, is expected to bring in a minimum of $15 million.
Christies has reported that the ring is being sold by an anonymous European businessman with a “very, very keen eye” who purchased the ring in 1972 from Bulgari in Rome. The ring was gifted to his wife in honor of the birth of their son. They had three more children, each birth celebrated with a special gift.
The blue Bulgari diamond probably came from the Premier diamond Mine in South Africa, one of the only diamond mines in the world that produced blue diamonds. This mine is famous for the 3,100 carat rough Cullinan Diamond which was found in 1905 and polished into some of the most famous
diamonds in the world including the Great Star of Africa and the Cullinan II.
Christie’s is set to officially unveil the ring at the Christie’s Geneva gallery on Tuesday, September 14, and continue on later to Hong Kong and London before returning to New York to be sold.
