Blue Diamonds - Colored Diamonds Blog

4 Red Diamonds, 3 World Records

May 20, 2013 By Peled Diamonds Leave a Comment

There are the rare colored diamonds - and then there are the ultra-rare colored diamonds. Red diamonds may account for only a small fraction of all colored gems sold every year, but it’s not for lack of demand. Scarlet stones are simply extremely hard to come by in nature. The immensely popular crime author Jo Nesbo capitalized on this rarity by writing a red diamond into the gruesome plot of his novel The Snowman (the details are definitely not suitable for work). But I guess when it rains red, it pours, because this week, the crimson-colored gems came up in the news not once, but twice.

Just this month, Rio Tinto officially launched its underground Argyle diamond mine. The mine has been in existence for three decades as an open-pit mine, but only now have operations penetrated to great depths. Argyle is best known for its pink diamonds – it supplies the better part of the global supply – but this week it made news with a trio of rare reds. At its upcoming tender, which it only conducts once a year, Rio will bring to market 58 pinks, including an amazing three-plus-carat fancy intense orange pink diamond they have dubbed the Argyle Imperial. The public sale will also star a 0.71-carat heart-shaped blue diamond the company has taken to calling the Argyle Celestial.

But the most significant stones to be featured at the tender are a triad of fancy red diamonds, one of which – given the title the Argyle Phoenix – a round red diamond that weighs over one and a half carats. To grasp how rare such an auction is, you need to know that in the last thirty years of production, only six red diamonds have been extracted at Argyle, meaning that fully half of this harvest will be available to be bought on the same day.

1.92ct Red Diamond 4 Red Diamonds, 3 World Records

1.92 carat Fancy Red Diamond, $3.2 Million - image Christie's

101 carat D Flawless Diamond Winston Legacy 4 Red Diamonds, 3 World Records

101.73 Carat Winston Legacy D Flawless Diamond, $26.7 Million - image Christie's

Incredibly, the Argyle trifecta weren’t the only red gems to make headlines this past week. In Geneva, Switzerland, Christie’s conducted its Magnificent Jewels Sale and auctioned off in excess of $100 million worth of diamonds – a new world record. The most valuable stone sold at the auction to Harry Winston – it was a perfect pear shaped 101.73-carat D Flawless diamond, and its $26.7 million price tag set a second world record. As the first owner of the stone, Mr. Winston has the privileged of naming this perfect diamond and named it the Winston Legacy. But among the other precious gems purchased that day was also a 1.92-carat fancy red diamond with remarkable VS2 clarity, which netted Christie’s its third world record for the day with its sales price of $3.2 million – the highest price paid for a red diamond at the auctions.

Filed Under: Auctions, Blue Diamonds, Colored Diamonds, Diamond Mines, Pink Diamonds, Rare Colored Diamonds, Red Diamonds

Yellow Diamonds Sold, Found and Broke Records

May 16, 2013 By Peled Diamonds

Good news for lovers of yellow diamonds: the largest rhomboid-cut diamond ever certified by the Gemological Institute of America went on display a week ago and can still be seen by appointment. However, bad news for thieves and rogues who love yellow diamonds: the exclusive group of gemologists who is known as “The One and Only One” will only show the gem at one of several secret locations! In fact, they won’t even say what the stone is worth to them until they screen you! But the extreme security measures are understandable: the fancy vivid yellow stone dubbed the “Golden Dragon” weighs in excess of 90 carats! We wonder if its price will break a record on its own.

3 Yellow Diamond Rings sold by Bonhams

Spectacular yellow stones have been selling for small fortunes of late. Last month Bonhams auctioned off over 180 items of fine jewelry at its New York City salesroom and among them were three interesting yellow pieces. The first was an 5.61-carat old European-cut natural fancy yellow diamond ring, which obliterated pre-sale expectations and selling for $146,000 (three times the expected price). The second was a 15.45-carat rectangular cut fancy yellow diamond solitaire ring, which netted an impressive $302,5000. The third was a Bulgari ring mounted with a radiant cut intense yellow diamond weighing 21.07 carat and flanked by triangular colorless diamonds weighing 3.52 carat – the latter sold for $590,000. A neglectable amount compared to the 5.3 carat Bulgari deep blue diamond they sold two weeks ago for $9.6 million dollars.

Bulgari 21 07 carat Intense Yellow Diamond Ring by Bonhams Yellow Diamonds Sold, Found and Broke Records

$590,000 21.07 carat Bulgari Intense Yellow Diamond Ring - picture by Bonhams

1965 Bulgari blue diamond ring Yellow Diamonds Sold, Found and Broke Records

$9,600,000 5.3 carat Bulgari Deep Blue Diamond Ring - picture by Bonhams

73.52 carat Yellow Diamond Found

It was also a yellow stone that lifted Rockwell Diamonds to a quarter of increased diamond sales figures, the firm announced this past week. Rockwell’s Klipdam diamond mine in South Africa actually produced fewer sellable gems during the last three months of its fiscal year, but its sale of several 10-plus-carat stones – and most of all a massive 73.52-carat fancy yellow diamond – led the diamond mining company to a 14% increase in its sales of stones from Klipdam and a 19% increase in its sales from all of its projects.

74.53 carat Fancy Yellow Diamond at Sotheby’s

Fancy Yellow Diamond Jewel 19th Century Sothebys Yellow Diamonds Sold, Found and Broke Records

Fancy Yellow Diamond Jewel 19th Century - Picture by Sothebys

This very week another large yellow stone of historical note played a crucial role at Sotheby’s Magnificent and Noble Jewels sale in Geneva. Among the items expected to fetch the largest purse at auction was a 74.53-carat cushion-cut fancy yellow diamond which once belonged to the Persian Sultan Ahmed Shah Qajar. The Shah was the last of the Qajar dynasty and the third-last monarch to rule Iran before the title was abolished following a popular uprising in 1979. The amazing diamond was predicted to sell for no less than $1.35 million and actually sold for over $2,950,000 – once again more than doubling the estimated price.

Filed Under: Auctions, Blue Diamonds, Colored Diamonds, Diamond Mines, Rare Colored Diamonds, Yellow Diamonds

5.3 Carats Deep Blue Diamond Sold for $9.6 Million – New World Record

April 28, 2013 By Peled Diamonds

We’ve been expecting the sale of this magnificent blue diamond for almost two months – and it was certainly worth the wait.

1965 Bulgari blue diamond ring 5.3 Carats Deep Blue Diamond Sold for $9.6 Million New World Record

1965 Bulgari Blue Diamond Ring - picture by Bonhams auction house

Bonhams, the privately owned British auction house, has made its headlines this week by passing all diamond auctions records previously held by commonly known auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

In fact, it simply passed every sale there was by setting a new world record for a price per carat paid for a blue diamond – $1,800,000 per carat ($1.8 Million Dollars).

Here is the auction’s preliminary video for this magnificent diamond:

The gem is an extremely rare cushion cut fancy deep blue diamond weighing 5.30 carat with vs2 clarity. It is mounted onto a “Trombino” ring made by Bulgari back in the 1960′s.
Amazingly, Bonhams price estimation for this blue diamond was in between $1,550,000 and $2,300,000 (total), which was what eventually paid per carat – bringing it to a total price of $9,600,000 ($9.6 million dollars).

You can watch the world record being set live at the auction:

The buyer for this deep blue is no other than Graff Diamonds. For those of you who’ve been following our blog for the past year, it seems that every other post begins with these two lines:
“New world record for blue / pink diamond is broken”, and the line that immediately follows: “the buyer of the record breaking diamond is Graff Diamonds”.

Here are a couple of remainders from the pieces he bought lately:
Back in December 2012 Graff bought a 6.54 carat Intense Pink Diamond that for $8.59 million dollars. And just before, during November 2012, he bought the astounding (previously record owner) 10.48 carat Deep blue diamond for 10.86 million.
An interesting purchase which we referred to as a $10,000,000 bet since he intends to re-polish it into a 7 carat vivid blue.

One last question… Since Graff is a diamond dealer, how much would you figure this diamond’s retail price would be?

Filed Under: Auctions, Blue Diamonds, Rare Colored Diamonds

Big Blue Diamond Discovered, Another Offered For Sale

April 20, 2013 By Peled Diamonds

It’s been 175 years since the firm that became Tiffany & Co. was founded, and just over a half-century since its place in pop culture was cemented by the Oscar-winning film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. So when the jeweler to the stars publishes its mail order catalog, affectionately known as the Blue Book, it does so in style, setting the tone both figuratively and literally. At the official launch last Thursday at New York City’s Rockefeller Center, Tiffany’s had a who’s who of Hollywood’s hottest all wearing blue dresses and diamonds, from Jessica Biel to Gwyneth Paltrow – who felt so strongly about attending the blue diamond celebration that she skipped out on the London premiere of her new film, Iron Man III!

With perfect synchronicity, just a day earlier, Petra Diamonds announced the discovery of a massive blue diamond at the Cullinan mine in South Africa. The stone weighed in at 25.5 carats and could be worth $10 million or more, analysts say. As soon as the news made the rounds, the company’s stock shot up by 5% on the London Stock Exchange. After bequeathing some of the world’s largest and most amazing white diamonds as the Premier Mine for De Beers – including a significant portion of the British Crown Jewels – Petra renamed it Cullinan, after its most famous harvest. It has been producing blue gems of note ever since; four years ago, Petra unearthed a blue stone of similar size at the site, called it the “Star of Josephine” and sold it for just under $10 million.

Petra 25 5 Blue Diamond Rough Big Blue Diamond Discovered, Another Offered For Sale

Petra Diamonds 25.5 carat Blue Diamond - image by Petra Diamonds

Now if all this talk of blue diamonds has whet your appetite for a stone the color of the sky, then you’ll be happy to learn that within days you will have the opportunity to acquire one. A Trombino ring designed by Bulgari back in 1965, which features a 5.30-carat fancy deep blue diamond, will be auctioned off by Bonhams Fine Jewelry on Wednesday, April 24. The blue diamond, which is cut into a cushion shape and accented by a series of brilliant-cut and baguette-cut stones, is said to be one of only 30 big blue gems to be sold publicly in the last decade. Consequently, you can expect it will fetch a hefty price – some say as much as $2.25 million, and potentially twice as much, which would break the per-carat price world record for deep blues that was set by Laurence Graff back in November 2011 when he bought the 10.48 carat deep blue diamond for $10,860,000.

1965 Bulgari blue diamond ring Big Blue Diamond Discovered, Another Offered For Sale

1965 Bulgari Blue Diamond Ring - picture by Bonhams auction house

Filed Under: Auctions, Blue Diamonds, Diamond Mines, Rare Colored Diamonds

25.5 carat Rare Blue Diamond found by Petra Diamonds

April 18, 2013 By Peled Diamonds

Only a day has passed since the record breaking news of the 34.65 carat intense pink known as the Princie pink diamond being sold for $39.3 million dollars and the Internet wheels have started turning – this time regarding a newly discovered magnificent blue diamond.

Petra Diamonds, an independent diamond mining company and the certainly proud owner of the Cullinan mine in South Africa (as well as eight other mines) has unearthed a rare 25.5 carat blue diamond rough. And even though I often stated that most people wouldn’t pick up a rough diamond if they saw it, as can be seen from their images, this one cannot be missed.

Petra 25 5 Blue Diamond Rough 25.5 carat Rare Blue Diamond found by Petra Diamonds

Petra Diamonds 25.5 carat Blue Diamond

Mixed Rough Diamonds

Which one would you pick up from the floor?

In case the name Cullinan sounds familiar, it is not by chance. It is the same mine in which the world’s largest gem quality rough diamond was found – the Cullinan which in rough state weighed 3,106 carat and was later cut into 105 different diamonds. It is also the name of the mine in which only 4 years ago Petra unearthed a 26.6 carat blue diamond which was polished into a 7 carat internally flawless diamond, star of Josephine, that was sold by Sotheby’s for a $9.49 million dollars – at the time – a record breaking price per carat of $1.35 million. And last but not least, it is the same mine in which a 4.8 rough blue diamond was unearthed on December 2011 and was later sold for $1.45 million dollars.

Looking to get a piece of the action?
For those looking to invest in diamonds and cannot afford a 10 million dollar diamond or simply do not wish to wait till it is polished, you can try your luck with the Petra stock which just got a “Buy” recommendation by The Telegraph estimating the blue diamond find at over $10,000,000.

Any guesses about polished carat weight and price are welcomed on our G Plus and Facebook Pages!

* Rough Blue Diamond image by Petra Diamonds

Filed Under: Blue Diamonds, Colored Diamonds, Diamond Mines, Rare Colored Diamonds

The 5 Most Amazing Diamonds on the Planet

March 27, 2013 By Peled Diamonds

No one knows who discovered the first diamond and then learned that if it was polished the right way it became a thing of radiant beauty. Technological advances have made it possible for the diamond to be polished, cut and faceted till it’s not merely a thing of surpassing beauty, but an object of veneration and historical import. Here’s a list of the five most amazing diamonds on the planet.

The Centenary Diamond

This astonishing diamond was found in the Premier mine in South Africa in 1988. The original stone had an amazing weight of 599 carats. Cutting and polishing whittled it down to nearly 274 carats. The diamond has 27 facets and was initially owned by De Beers, the South African diamond merchants. Then, it was bought by an unknown person who probably had about $100 million to spend on it. For $100 million was how much this diamond is insured for. It’s called the Centenary Diamond because it was cut to celebrate De Beers’ centenary.

The Hope Diamond

The Hope Diamond is, of course, supposed to be cursed. This is 45.53 carat, blue-gray diamond glows brilliant red when it’s exposed to UV light, an effect so eerie that it seems to have contributed to the stone’s bad reputation. According to Jean Tavernier, it’s first verified owner, the diamond comes from the Kollur mine in India. He either bought it or stole the original stone from its owner and brought it to France where it went through several adventures and passed through a few hands, including those of Louis XIV and Louis XV. As for the curse, there’s nothing to it. It simply seems that the diamond had so many owners and handlers that a few of them were bound to have bad ends whether they owned it or not.

hope diamond The 5 Most Amazing Diamonds on the Planet

The Hope Diamond

The Heart of Eternity

Like the Hope diamond, this heart-shaped diamond is also blue, but a lush, peacock blue with purple highlights. It also originated in South Africa’s Premier mine, weighs 27.6 carats and has a private owner.

The Millennium Star

Interesting, the Millennium Star was first displayed on 1999 as a part of the De Beers Millennium Diamond Collection along with the Heart of Eternity. It is a beautiful colorless diamond that weighs 203.04 carats. It’s also considered flawless, which is rare for so large a diamond. The Millennium Star is still owned by De Beers. When there was a suspicion that someone planned to burgle it, De Beers had a duplicate made. But neither the real diamond nor the fake were ever taken.

The Idol’s Eye Diamond

Myth claims that this diamond, another brilliant blue stone, was stolen out of the head of an idol in Libya, which is unlikely as Muslim countries forbid statues of gods and goddesses. However, Abdul Hamid II, a Sultan of the Ottoman empire, did buy the diamond, which was stolen from him. Eventually, this diamond, like so many others, ended up with Harry Winston. He then sold it to Frederick Bonfils, who gave it to his daughter. It’s now in a beautiful setting surrounded by smaller, white diamonds.

Filed Under: Blue Diamonds, Colored Diamonds, Rare Colored Diamonds

5 Highlights from Sotheby’s April 2013 Magnificent Jewels Auction

March 17, 2013 By Peled Diamonds

The upcoming Sotheby’s magnificent jewels auction in Hong Kong will take place on the 8^th of April. These diamond auctions often set the tone for the high-end jewelry and diamond prices. During the last couple of years the diamond auctions held by both Christie’s and Sotheby’s often exceeded expectation – a blue diamond sold for over a million dollar per carat breaking deep blue world record, the Martian pink diamond sold for 17.4 Million dollars (almost twice the expected amount) and many more…

Here are five pieces I found very interesting while browsing through the auction catalog and thought were worth following:

Fancy Colored Diamond Necklace – a necklace made of 29 heart shaped colored diamonds of all hues weighing a total of 22.89 carats with the estimated worth of $540,000-$640,000.
A set of two colored diamond rings -
We often stated that finding a pair of matching colored diamonds is extremely difficult. This is multiplied many times over when it comes to rare diamonds such as a 2.50 carat pink diamond. The designer of this piece had created two rings made of completely different colored diamonds that even though their colors are unrelated they look amazingly together. The first is mounted with a 2.50 carats pear shaped fancy orangy pink diamond and the other with a 3.01 carat intense yellow pear with vs2 clarity. Both diamonds have GIA certificates and the rings are estimated at $280,000 – $330,000.
Fancy Orangy Pink Diamond Ring -
A second pear shaped fancy orangy pink diamond ring, only this time it weighs an astounding 6.37 carats. It has a very unique setting, surrounded by white oval, pear shape and heart shaped diamonds weighing approx. 3.10 carats. Due to its irregular size it is estimated at $940,000-$1,100,000.
Pink Diamond Earrings -
The center pieces are two rounded corners radiant pink diamonds, one weighing 4.24 carat and the other 4.42 carats. Those are surrounded by 6.95 carats of smaller pink diamonds and white diamonds. Expected sale price ranges $1,930,000 – $2,320,000.
Fancy Intense Blue Diamond Ring -
An intense blue diamond weighing 3.04 carats mounted on a special ring alongside with small pink diamonds and colorless diamonds. This is one of the main pieces in the show with an estimated worth of $2,060,000 – $2,575,000. To view the piece at sotheby’s click here

Are Champagne Diamonds Starting to get their Recognition?

What I found exceptionally intriguing is actually the relatively lower cost colored diamond jewelry that is presented. Over the last few months I was contacted several times by private collectors looking to invest in colored diamonds. Investing in diamonds is hardly new but what was interesting was that while most buyers consider investment grade diamonds those in the high price levels with colors like green, blue, pink and reds, lately I was asked more and more about champagne colored diamonds. The explanation was that these diamonds are known to be more common and therefore you can get very interesting diamonds for affordable prices.

This is why when looking through the full Sotheby’s auction catalog I focused on what seemed to me a relatively high number of light colored yellow diamonds and champagne diamonds.

Take for example the Light Brown Diamond Necklace with a center piece of light yellowish brown weighing 9.50 carats and estimated “only” for $32,000. Also, the two beautiful rings – Emerald cut fancy yellow brown diamond ring weighing 21.50 carats (valued at $130,000-$180,000) and 25.11 carats fancy deep brownish yellow diamond ring (estimated worth of $320,000-$450,000).

Whether it is a current trend or finally champagne diamonds receive their well-deserved recognition – only time will tell.

Filed Under: Auctions, Blue Diamonds, Champagne & Brown Diamonds, Colored Diamonds, Pink Diamonds, Rare Colored Diamonds, Yellow Diamonds

March & April To See Sales Of Big Blue Diamonds

March 10, 2013 By Peled Diamonds

fancy intense blue diamond March & April To See Sales Of Big Blue Diamonds

The tradition of assigning specific gemstones to correspond to the twelve signs of the zodiac, or to the twelve months of the year, is an ancient one. In the Jewish tradition, the stones in the breastplate worn by Aaron, the brother of Moses, and by all subsequent Temple High Priests, were said to be connected to the twelve Hebrew months, according to the historian Josephus.

In the Christian tradition, twelve gemstones were said to represent Jesus’ twelve apostles, and the pious would wear a different one of these stones every month, according to historian Bruce Knuth.

The specific stones attributed to each month have varied across cultures an over the centuries in the last five hundred years, from Pakistan to Poland. But in the English-speaking world in the last century, the month of March has been consistently represented by the blue aquamarine stone and the month of April has always been ascribed to diamonds. Perhaps it’s by chance, and perhaps it’s by choice, and perhaps it’s by some form of enchantment; but diamonds of the color blue will be making headlines in March and April of 2013, in keeping with their American and British birthstones. The next two months will bear witness to some astounding sales figures, as several blue diamonds of significant size are publicly auctioned off.

1965 Bulgari blue diamond ring March & April To See Sales Of Big Blue Diamonds

1965 Bulgari Blue Diamond Ring - picture by Bonhams auction house

I. Hennig and Fusion Tenders are planning to sell a rare 3-carat rough blue diamond in the weeks to come, either in Belgium or in Israel. At the end of April, London auctioneers Bonhams will be selling off an extremely rare 1965 Bulgari blue diamond ring, expected to sell for between $1.5 and 2.25 million. And in only one weeks’ time, Tzoffey’s will be selling off a 1.93 carat vivid blue unique heart shape diamond at the U.S. / International Diamond Week at the Israel Diamond Exchange. Keep in mind that a fancy vivid blue diamond measuring less than half a carat might cost millions of dollars, so imagine the fortune that a multiple-carat vivid blue could fetch! This year, March and April are definitely going to live up to their stone-sake.

Filed Under: Auctions, Blue Diamonds, Colored Diamonds

6.54 carat Intense Pink Diamond sold for $8.59 Million Dollars

December 12, 2012 By Peled Diamonds

Intense Pink Diamond

A month ago, on the 6^th of November JCK covered the story of what was the upcoming interesting Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction on the December 5^th in New York City.

Sotheby’s were selling at the auction the collections of Estée Lauder and Evelyn Lauder. All proceeds, an estimated amount of $18M were to be donated to the breast cancer research foundation that Evelyn founded back in 93.

One item in particular on that show was designated to be the highlight – Evelyn’s 6.54 carat Intense Pink Diamond Ring (view ring).

The center piece of the ring is the oval shaped 6.54 carat internally flawless intense pink diamond and it surrounded by 2.21 carat white half-moon diamonds.

The amazing ring was estimated at more than 4 Million Dollars.

Going Once, twice, gone for … $8.59 Million Dollars

Yes it is not a mistake. The diamond was evaluated at 4 Million and it was sold for more than twice as much, for 8.6 Million Dollars. Over $1.3 Million Dollars per carat ($1,313,144 per carat to be exact).

This overwhelming price comes only two weeks after Laurence Graff bought a 10.48ct blue diamond and broke the world record for a deep blue diamond, for over a $1M per carat (over $10,860,000 total).

Also more than twice its original estimate of $4.5M.

And the intense pink diamond goes to… Laurence Graff

Once again no mistake – the same Laurence Graff who bought the deep blue two weeks ago bought this amazing intense pink after a bidding war with five additional candidates.

According to IDEX, Graff also bought the second and third top grossing items on the show – an emerald cut 52.73 carat vivid yellow diamond vs1 clarity for $3.9M and a 22.16 carat Emerald cut TYPE IIa D VVS1 diamond for $3.44M.

Fancy Intense Yellow diamond 198475 6.54 carat Intense Pink Diamond sold for $8.59 Million Dollars Among the other interesting color diamonds that were sold at the auction was a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond pendant with a 47.14 carat heart shaped intense yellow diamond at the center achieving $2.5 Million Dollars (more than the estimated at between $1.5M-$2.0M). Altogether, the proceeds of Lauder’s jewelry collection sold at the auction totaled $22.2M while the estimates were for $18M – 4 more million dollars going for a great cause.

Hope you enjoyed (and Liked). Even though we don’t have a 6 carat intense pink diamond at the moment – you are more than welcome to stroll around our pink diamond collection…

Filed Under: Auctions, Blue Diamonds, Colored Diamonds, Pink Diamonds, Rare Colored Diamonds

Lucara sells 9.46 carat blue diamond for $4.5 Million Dollars

December 10, 2012 By Peled Diamonds

Usually on the blog we cover diamonds sold at the Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctions.
However, this auction is a bit different.

Last month a 9.46 carat blue diamond was found at the Karowe mine owned by Lucara.
It was to be auctioned at the tender, which they held on November 26th along with an additional 57,000 carats that were mined.

A diamond tender is an auction for rough diamonds among diamond dealers and manufacturers.

A week after the rare blue was mined, a 10.48 carat deep blue diamond has broken auction records and was sold for the outstanding amount 10.86 Million Dollars.

As a result we have projected that the great timing of the auction will most likely have an effect on the Lucara tender and push the price expectations of the polished blue diamonds even higher.

In a way, in rare diamonds such as the above blue diamonds, the price of the polished diamonds sold sets the price of the rough and not the other way around as expected.

Now that manufactures know that there are buyers willing to pay over a million dollars per carat for a rare blue diamond,they will be willing to buy the rough for… $477,272 per carat ($4.5 Million Dollars total).

Do not forget that the price that was paid was price per rough carat. Which means that the polished diamond’s cost price per carat is by far higher – again showing the expectations.

Lets Finish with Some Proportions…

The entire sale of the 57,000 carats grossed $17.4 Million Dollars.
The 9.46 carat blue diamond was sold for $4.5 million.
Impressive don’t you think…?