SouthernWorldwide.com – A rare 5.5-carat blue-green diamond, known as the “Ocean Dream,” has achieved a record-breaking price of $17.3 million at a Christie’s auction in Geneva.
This remarkable triangular-cut stone is recognized as the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond ever documented to exist.
The “Ocean Dream” was the highlight of Christie’s jewelry sale and significantly surpassed its presale estimate of 7 to 10 million Swiss francs, which translates to approximately $9 to $13 million.
Rahul Kadakia, president of Christie’s Asia Pacific, announced that the successful bidder was an undisclosed private client. The stone’s sale took around 20 minutes, indicating strong interest from potential buyers.
This recent sale more than doubled the price achieved when the gem was previously auctioned by Christie’s in 2014, where it sold for roughly $8.5 million. The diamond had also been showcased among rare colored diamonds at the Smithsonian’s Splendour of Diamonds Exhibition in 2003.
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Tobias Kormind, managing director of the online jeweler 77 Diamonds, described the outcome as “a stellar result worthy of the world’s rarest blue-green diamond.”
According to Christie’s, the “Ocean Dream” weighs 9.4 grams. It is also set in a ring featuring sculpted rock crystal, round diamonds, and pink diamonds.
In a separate event on Tuesday, a 6-carat fancy vivid blue diamond offered at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva did not find a buyer.
Sotheby’s stated that this rare stone, unearthed from South Africa’s renowned Cullinan mine, had a presale estimate ranging from 7.2 million to 9.6 million Swiss francs ($9.2 million to $12.3 million).
Despite the lack of a sale during the auction, Sotheby’s expressed confidence in finding a new owner. The auction house is currently in discussions with several interested parties.
Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s have noted a growing trend among collectors to acquire rare, colored diamonds. These exceptional stones represent only a small fraction of the total diamonds mined globally.
Over the years, both auction houses have facilitated the sale of numerous high-profile diamonds.
In 2023, a particularly rare blue diamond weighing 17.61 carats, known as the “Bleu Royal,” sold for an impressive $43.8 million at a Christie’s auction in Geneva.
Prior to that, in 2018, Christie’s sold the “Pink Legacy” diamond for over $50 million, setting a new world record at the time.
The most expensive diamond ever sold at auction remains the “Pink Star.” This 59.60-carat fancy vivid pink diamond fetched a staggering $71.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong in 2017.
