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Rare blue diamond auctioned at record US$9.5 million

A Sotheby’s employee displays a Rare Fancy Vivid 7.03 carat blue diamond at Sotheby’s in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 6. PHOTO: EPA

A flawless vivid blue diamond weighing 7.03 carats sold on Tuesday for a record 10.5 million Swiss francs (US$9.49 million), the highest price paid per carat for any gemstone at auction, Sotheby’s said.

The rectangular-shaped blue stone, the rarest to enter the international market this year, went to an anonymous buyer bidding by telephone after hectic bidding see-sawed between two callers for 15 minutes.

It was the centerpiece of its semi-annual sale in Geneva, conducted by David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry department in Europe and the Middle East, who said the results showed the market’s resilience despite the economic downturn.

“This is already a new world record price for a fancy vivid blue diamond and a new world record per carat for any gemstone [at auction],” Bennett said.

“It is fantastic in this market and shows that these rare things are very much in demand,” he said.

The final price includes a commission paid by the buyer to the auction house. The stone sets a record price per carat for any gemstone sold at auction of US$1,349,752, Sotheby’s said.

The previous record price for a fancy vivid blue diamond was US$7.9 million, including commission, for a stone weighing 6.04 carats at sale in Hong Kong in October 2007, also by Sotheby’s.

The new owner will have the right to name the stone, which is mounted in a platinum ring. The pre-sale catalogue estimate was SF6.8 million to SF10 million, excluding commission. The hammer price excluding commission was SF9.3 million.

It was put up for sale by ­London-listed Petra Diamonds, which extracted it last year from the Cullinan mine in South Africa.
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