HONG KONG (Reuters) - One of the rarest
gems in the world, a flawless blue diamond, has sold
for US$7.98 million (3.91 million pounds) at a Sotheby's
auction in Hong Kong, making it the most expensive gemstone
in the world, per carat, sold at auction.
After intense bidding, the 6.04 carat, internally flawless
blue diamond fetched $HK61.9 million (3.91 million pounds),
or US$1.32 million per carat. The price smashed a 20-year-old
record held by the "Hancock Red" -- a red
diamond, which fetched US$926,000 per carat at the time,
Sotheby's said.
Sotheby's said the buyer was "Moussaieff Jewellers"
in London which has a reputation for acquiring extremely
rare and costly gemstones. The seller was a private
Asian collector.
A 6.04 carats extremely rare fancy vivid
blue diamond ring is shown during a Sotheby's preview
in Hong Kong October 3, 2007. One of the rarest gems
in the world, a flawless blue diamond, has sold for
US$7.98 million (3.91 million pounds) at a Sotheby's
auction in Hong Kong, making it the most expensive gemstone
in the world, per carat, sold at auction.
Blue diamonds have long captivated the rich and powerful --
shimmering with a certain dark mystique. The famous "Hope
Diamond", a 45.52 carat grey-blue beauty, was passed down
through the ages by King Louis XIV of France, Marie Antoinette
and American heiress Evalyn Walsh McClean among others. It now
rests in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.
The Sultan of Brunei reportedly bought another massive "blue"
which surfaced briefly in the 1980s.
While not a large stone, the Sotheby's diamond has an esteemed
cut and "fancy vivid blue" hue, factors which contributed
to its blockbuster price -- roughly 10 times the per-carat
price of regular white diamonds.
The blue hue is a result of trace amounts of boron in the
stone's crystal structure.
Other coloured diamonds with pink and red hues can be mined
in multiple locations across the globe including Brazil, India
and Australia, but "blues" are mostly found at just
one site on earth -- the Premier Mine in South Africa.