Blue diamond fetches $57 million, breaks previous records

A 14.62-carat blue diamond today became the world's most expensive jewel ever auctioned after it fetched a whopping USD 57.5 million, smashing the previous auction records.

The world's largest blue diamond known as "The Oppenheimer Blue" sold to a private collector at Christie's here. The buyer's identity was not disclosed.

Mounted on a platinum ring and flanked on either side by a trapeze-shaped diamond, the rare rectangular-cut Fancy Vivid stone had a pre-sale estimate of USD 38-45 million.

The diamond was named in honour of its previous owner Philip Oppenheimer, a diamond dealer whose family owns the influential diamond company De Beers, CNN reported.

The



Oppenheimer steals the title of world's most expensive diamond from the 12.03 carat "Blue Moon of Josephine," which held the previous record at USD 48.4 million.

The diamond was bought by Chinese property billionaire Joseph Lau in November for his 7-year-old daughter.

Blue diamonds are exceptionally rare, comprising only around 0.0001 per cent of the world's diamonds, according to Christie's. Of this tiny fraction, only about one per cent are classified as Fancy Vivid.

The record-breaking sale comes a day after the 15.38 carat 'Unique Pink' was sold for USD 31.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva - the highest price ever paid for a pink diamond of that category.