Largest blue diamond ever to auction for US$45m

The largest fancy vivid blue diamond ever offered at auction is set to go on sale on May 18 at Christie’s in Geneva. The 14.62 carat stone, the “Oppenheimer Blue”, is named after its previous owner, Sir Philip Oppenheimer, whose family controlled De Beers for 80 years before selling its 40 per cent stake to Anglo American Plc for US$5.1 billion in 2012. The diamond, whose “fancy vivid” designation rates it the highest and clearest saturation colour blue possible, is estimated to sell for US$38 million to US$45 million.

The auction comes as the worldwide market for jewellery has sagged. Sales, according to Euromonitor International, dipped more than 4 per cent in 2015, from US$38.5 billion to US$36.9 billion. The top of the market, however, has demonstrated consistent, record-setting resilience.

The last decade has seen a string of blockbuster prices for coloured diamonds at auction. (Though there’s a long history of coloured diamonds being highly coveted, the Hope Diamond being the most prominent example.)

In 2008, the London jeweller Graff paid a record-breaking US$24.3 million for a fancy deep greyish-blue diamond at Christie’s London; two years later, Graff broke another record, paying US$45.6 million for a 24.78 carat pink diamond at Sotheby’s Geneva. Last year, the Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau broke that record by paying US$48.4 million for a 12.03 carat, fancy blue diamond at Sotheby’s Geneva. (The night before, he paid US$28.5 million for a 16.08 carat pink diamond at Christie’s; both jewels, totaling US$77 million, were reportedly purchased for his then seven-year-old daughter.)