A rare and flawless blue 5.16 carat diamond that was once part of the De Beers Millennium Collection has been sold for $6.4m (£4.2m) at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong.
Auctioneers Sotheby’s had estimated the diamond at between $4.6 million and $5.8 million, it sold to London gem merchant Alisa Moussaieff who said she was satisfied with the price. “It’s an individual thing and people have got to like it and people have got to see the value in it, but we do see the value and I hope our clients will see the value as well,” she said.
Ooverall auction raised $52.4 million, a figure Sotheby’s said was the highest total ever for a sale of this category.