Sotheby’s Hong Kong will auction the De Beers Millennium Jewel 4, a 10.10-carat oval internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond – the largest oval fancy vivid blue diamond ever to appear at auction, estimated at US$30-35 million, at its Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Spring Sale on 5 April 2016.
Offered for sale from an Asian private collection, the stone is one of the 12 rare diamonds that make up the De Beers Millennium collection, which was unveiled by De Beers in 2000.
“The market for coloured diamonds has gone from strength to strength and this spring we are thrilled to present the De Beers Millennium Jewel 4,” said Quek Chin Yeow, deputy chairman, Asia and chairman international jewellery, Asia. “Fifteen years ago I had the great opportunity of seeing this magnificent stone for the first time and it is an absolute delight now to have it in one’s hand, to admire it again and to offer it for auction in Asia.”
Tom Moses, executive vice president and chief research and laboratory officer of Gemological Institute of America (GIA) stated: “Blue diamonds of any intensity of colour are amongst the rarest of all gems. Highly saturated blue diamonds over 10 carats combined with an internally flawless clarity grade are extremely rare. There have been fewer and fewer new rough diamonds discovered over the last decade that produce this colour. Most of the recent diamonds offered for sale in this category are coming from private collections – not diamond mines.”
The stone will be exhibited in New York, London (15 March), Geneva (16 March), Singapore (13-14 March), Taipei (19-20 March), and Hong Kong (1-4 April) in weeks leading up to the auction.
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