Emerson Phillips
The world’s largest blue diamond weighs 15.1 carats and is known as the De Beers Cullinan Blue. It sold at auction for $57.5 million Wednesday at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong after an eight-minute bidding war among four hopeful buyers.
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It was expected to sell for $48 million.
The diamond, obtained in 2021, comes from South Africa’s Cullinan mine and has attained all of the highest rankings on which colored diamonds are assessed, according to a Sotheby’s press release. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) categorized the jewel as “fancy vivid blue” – the top color grading of its class.
Describing the diamond as “exceptionally rare,” the Sotheby’s statement added that only five gems over 10 carats have ever appeared at auction. None have ever been over 15 carats, “making the appearance of this flawless gem a landmark event in itself.”
With a final price of $57,471,960, The De Beers Cullinan Blue just narrowly missed setting the record for the most expensive blue diamond ever to sell at auction. That title is still held by the 14.62-carat “Oppenheimer Blue,” which sold in 2016 with a final price of $57,541,779, a difference of just under $70,000.
“It is truly a once-in-a-generation stone, and quite simply the greatest blue diamond of its size I have ever seen,” Patti Wong, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said.
