Bonhams has recently hit a new record with the sale of a very rare and extremely beautiful fancy deep-blue diamond at the Bonhams Fine Jewelry sale in London(April 24). Weighting an impressive 5.30 carats, the gem was bought by London-based international diamond house Graff Diamonds. They paid a whopping $1.8 million per carat, totaling £6.2 million (approximately $9.6 million).
The remarkable gem was set in a glamorous ‘Trombino’ ring by Bulgari, sometime in the mid-1960s. It was estimated to fetch between £1 million and £1.5 million, so it’s no wonder that director of Bonhams Jewelry Department Jean Ghika said “We are honored to have handled the sale of such a unique gem.” The previous record price for a blue diamond was $1.68 million.
The dazzling cushion-shaped blue diamond was placed horizontally in a pavé-set ring, surrounded by brilliant cut and baguette-cut diamonds. The piece is stunning, especially because blue diamonds account for less than 1% of the entire number of diamonds mined in the whole world.
