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The ring of left is the 3.09-carat fancy intense blue diamond, which sold at Christie’s in New York in April, setting a new price per carat mark for an intense blue fancy colored diamond. The ring on the right contains the 3.47-carat diamond which broke the same record the very next day at Sotheby’s (Photo on left courtesy of Christies, and photo on right courtesy of Sotheby’s.)
It began at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in New York on April 17, when a ring with a 3.09-carat fancy intense blue diamond as its center stone sold for $5.4 million. The amount received for the rectangular-cut blue diamond, which was surrounded by tapered baguette-cut white diamonds on either side, was about double the $2 million to $3 million pre-sale estimate. The transaction made history by garnering the highest ever price per carat – $1,739,482 – for a fancy intense blue diamonds.
The previous record of ,530,625 per carat had been held by a 3.13-carat carat fancy intense blue diamond with internally flawless clarity that was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong on April 4, 2017.
But, as mentioned, the record held up just one day. On April 18, at Sotheby’s midtown sales room, a cut-cornered, rectangular, step-cut 3.47-carat fancy intense blue diamond in a ring sold for $6.7 million, almost triple the pre-sale estimate of between $2 million and $2.5 million. The price per carat record for a fancy intense blue diamond consequently rose to $1,920,259.
The Cartier crossover ring set with a 2.85-carat pear modified brilliant-cut fancy intense pink diamond, and a 2.42-carat pear brilliant-cut fancy vivid blue diamond, which sold for more than $4.5 million at Christie’s. To its right is a similar ring with a 2.10-carat pear brilliant-cut fancy vivid blue diamond, and a 1.98-carat pear brilliant-cut colorless diamond, flanked by tapered baguette-cut diamonds, which sold for almost $3.5 million at the same sale. (Photos courtesy of Christie’s)
The two blue stones were not the spectacular Fancy Colored Diamonds sold in April. The Christie’s sale also featured an 8.42-carat cut-corner rectangular modified brilliant-cut fancy intense pink diamond that sold for $5 million.
Also at Christie’s, a Cartier crossover ring set with a 2.85-carat pear modified brilliant-cut fancy intense pink diamond, and a 2.42-carat pear brilliant-cut fancy vivid blue diamond, additionally featuring baguette-cut diamond shoulders and circular-cut diamond gallery, sold for more than $4.5 million. A similar ring with a 2.10-carat pear brilliant-cut fancy vivid blue diamond, and a 1.98-carat pear brilliant-cut colorless diamond, flanked by tapered baguette-cut diamonds, sold for almost $3.5 million.
Next up this spring are the Geneva sales, where the most closely watched lot is a 20.49-carat, fancy vivid-yellow diamond ring, that will go on sale at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale on May 16. Its pre-sale estimate is between $3.9 million and $4.7 million, but, based on what transpired in New York, anything can be expected.
The 8.42-carat cut-corner rectangular modified brilliant-cut fancy intense pink diamond that sold for million at the Christie’s April sale in New York, and the 20.49-carat, fancy vivid-yellow diamond ring, scheduled to go on sale at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale on May 16, 2018. (Photos courtesy of Christie’s)