Bonhams & Goodman announce that an exceptionally rare natural fancy blue and pink diamond ring will be the highlight of the June Fine Jewellery auction in Sydney. Weighing in at 1.24ct, a natural blue diamond of this size and calibre has never before been offered at auction in Australia and only a handful are sold internationally each year. Estimated at $250,000 – 350,000, the ring is expected to be hotly contested at auction due to its rarity and increasing value.
Natural blue diamonds are amongst the rarest of coloured diamonds in the world. Their unique colour is due to the presence of minute amounts of the element boron incorporated into the crystal during formation over a hundred million years ago.
Historically, blue diamonds originated from the fabled Kollur diamond mines near Golconda in India. The first recorded reference comes to us through the travelogues of the intrepid 17th century French traveller and gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. Tavernier’s principle client was Louis XIV. Amongst other stones he discovered for the monarch on his Indian travels was a very large and unique blue diamond christened the French Blue. The stone’s subsequent owners have included Queen Marie Antoinette, American socialite Evalyn Walsh Mclean and diamond merchant Harry Winston. Renamed the Hope Diamond, the 45ct blue diamond now resides at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington.
The Indian deposits have since been worked out and so nearly all the blue diamonds that appear on the market today come from the Cullinan (formerly Premier) Mine near Pretoria in South Africa. On May 12 this year in Geneva a new world record price for a fancy vivid blue diamond was set as well as a new world record price per carat for any gemstone sold at auction. A 7.03ct blue diamond from the Cullinan mine was hammered for $9.5 million US. Unlike most blue diamonds which contain grey as the secondary colour, the stone offered in lot 130 is of a pure and unique blue colour.
The Fine and Affordable Jewellery auctions will also feature a superb collection of over 650 lots of fine, antique, contemporary jewellery and prestigious watches.
The collection includes jewellery by Cartier, Tiffany, Chopard and Paspaley, certified white, yellow and pink solitaire diamonds, watches by Rolex, Cartier and Chanel offered on behalf of several deceased estates, private vendors and unreserved stock in trade in the matter of Van Dieman Mines P/L Administrators Appointed.
Monday 29 June
Session 1: Affordable Jewellery, 11am
Session 2: Fine Jewellery, 6pm
All catalogue descriptions are guaranteed, estimates are generally 25% to 30% of retail.
www.bonhamsandgoodman.com.au/
Illustrated
An exceptionally rare natural fancy blue and pink diamond ring
Estimate: $250,000 – 350,000
