Diamond News
Rare Blue Diamond Found
Geneva, Switzerland — An exquisite blue diamond went up for auction at Sotheby’s in Geneva after months of pre-sale press coverage.
The internally flawless 7.03 carat stone was cut from a 26.58 carat rough stone found at the Cullinan mine is South Africa in 2008.
Cut into a modified rectangular shape and mounted in a platinum setting, the diamond has yet to be named by its new owner, who paid $9.5 million for the piece.
Sotheby’s, after its Magnificent Jewels sale, revealed that this diamond has set the per-carat record of $1.35 million. A 15-minute bidding war took place before the anonymous telephone buyer went up to 10.5 Million Francs.
Although the cut and polished diamond sold at Sotheby’s pulled in over $9 million, it is most likely that the unskilled laborer who found the rough stone is earning about R6,000, or about $713 per month, if he is still employed there.