An exceptionally large blue diamond on Wednesday sold for 48.6 million Swiss francs (US$48.5 million) — a record price for any jewel at auction, Sotheby’s said, culminating two Geneva auctions in which a convicted Hong Kong tycoon bought rare colored diamonds for his daughter.
The 12.03-carat “Blue Moon” diamond, set in a ring, was said to be among the largest known fancy vivid blue diamonds and was the showpiece gem at the Sotheby’s jewelry auction.
A packed room broke into applause after the hammer came down at a price of SF43.2 million, excluding fees — within the pre-auction estimate range of between SF34 million and SF54 million.
Photo: AFP
The Blue Moon — so-called in reference to its rarity, playing off the expression “once in a blue moon” — topped the previous record of US$46.2 million set five years ago by the Graff Pink, Sotheby’s said.
The diamond also set a new record of more than US$4 million per carat, capping the day-long high-end jewelry sale that reaped about US$140 million.
On its Twitter account, Sotheby’s said the jewel was purchased by a Hong Kong private collector and was promptly renamed “The Blue Moon of Josephine” — a similar name to one given to a pink diamond ring that sold for US$28.5 million at Christie’s in Geneva a day earlier: “Sweet Josephine.”
The auction house did not identify the buyer, but in both cases it was Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau (劉鑾雄), his office said yesterday.
“Yes, the two diamonds are bought by Joseph Lau,” said a spokeswoman, who hung up without identifying herself.
At a Sotheby’s Geneva auction in 2009, Lau bought another blue diamond, paying a then-record US$9.5 million for the 7.03 carat “Star of Josephine.”
The gem was reportedly named after his seven-year-old daughter, the youngest of his five children.
Lau is a property developer with a fortune estimated by Forbes at US$9.8 billion.
Last year he was convicted in a Macau court on corruption charges and sentenced to more than five years in prison.
However, Lau, who did not attend the trial, has remained free by avoiding travel to the former Portuguese colony, which does not have an extradition treaty with Hong Kong.
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