Origin of name
The name "Blue Magic" for the diamond seems to emphasize
the rare fancy vivid blue color of the diamond, the highest color grading
for a blue diamond, which is an extremely rare occurrence. The phenomenon of
blue diamonds is an extremely rare occurrence in nature; on top of that to
have a fancy vivid blue diamond, the highest color grading for any color,
becomes a "rarest of the rare" occurrences in nature. The sight of the
diamond even on a photograph is breathtaking, talk less of having a first
hand experience in viewing the diamond, whose beauty would be unimaginable.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The GIA certificate issued for this diamond states, that
it has a modified pear-shaped cut, with a weight of 12.02 carats. The
diamond is further stated to be a naturally colored, fancy vivid blue
diamond, with a clarity of VVS-2, only slightly less than internally
flawless.
The Blue Magic diamond occupies the 9th position, in the
list of known famous blue diamonds in the world, given below.
List of famous blue
diamonds
|
S/N |
Name |
carat weight |
color |
|
1 |
Hope diamond |
45.52 |
fancy dark grayish blue |
|
2 |
Tereschenko |
42.92 |
fancy blue |
|
3 |
Wittelsbach |
35.56 |
fancy intense blue |
|
4 |
Sultan of Morocco |
35.27 |
fancy grayish blue |
|
5 |
The Blue Heart |
30.82 |
fancy intense blue |
|
6 |
The Heart of Eternity |
27.64 |
fancy vivid blue |
|
7 |
Transvaal Blue |
25.00 |
unknown color grade |
|
8 |
The Blue Empress |
14.00 |
unknown color grade |
|
9 |
The Blue Magic |
12.02 |
fancy vivid blue |
|
10 |
Graff Blue |
6.19 |
fancy blue |
The Blue Magic diamond is a rare Type IIb diamond, whose
occurrence is less than 0.1 % of all naturally occurring diamonds. The
diamond is Type II, because it is nitrogen-free or contains undetectable
quantities of nitrogen. Type II diamonds diamonds are again divided into two
:- Type IIa and Type IIb.
Type IIa - These diamonds are not only free of nitrogen
but also free of all other chemical impurities, such as boron and hydrogen.
Being free of impurities, these diamonds are absolutely colorless. The D-F
grade of diamonds may belong to this group. They constitute about 1-2 % of
all naturally occurring diamonds. However, a very small percentage of these
diamonds, perhaps lees than 0.1 % might have undergone plastic deformation
in their crystal structure or might have been exposed to natural irradiation
over a long period of time. Plastically deformed crystals have rare fancy
colors, such as red, purple, and pink, and also brown color. Naturally
irradiated crystals, have a green color
Type IIb - These diamonds are free of nitrogen, but
instead contain trace quantities of another impurity, boron, which imparts a
blue color to the diamonds. All naturally colored blue diamonds fall under
this group, including the Blue Magic diamond. A peculiar property of blue
diamonds is, that they are semi-conductors, unlike other diamonds which are
non-conductors of electricity. The occurrence of blue diamonds is less than
0.1 % of all naturally occurring diamonds.
History
The early history of the diamond, such as country and
mine of origin, date of discovery, original owners of the diamond, persons
involved in the cutting etc. are all unknown. The diamond first came up for
auction at Christie's in 2001. The stone was set in a ring made of 18k white
gold and was estimated to sell for between $ 5 and $ 6 million. The stone
was however withdrawn from the sale, as it did not realize it's reserve.
Historically, the original source of blue diamonds was
the Kollur mines near Golconda, in the Southern Indian State of Andhra
Pradesh. Golconda was a fortress city, now ruined, lying 8 Km west of
Hyderabad City, in North-Central Andhra Pradesh State, Southern India. It
was the Capital of the Qutub Shahi Kingdom from 1512 to 1687, one of the five
Muslim Sultanates of the Deccan. This was also the period, when the Kollur
mines, discovered in the early 16th century, had peak production outputs, as
witnessed by Tavernier himself, when he visited Golconda in 1642. Around 20
highly productive mines, employing over 60,000 people were in active
production during Tavernier's visit.
The territory of Golconda lies between the lower reaches
of the Godavari and Krishna rivers, and extended to the Bay of Bengal coast.
In 1687, the ruling dynasty of Qutub Shahis was overthrown by the Mogul
Emperor Aurangzeb, and Golconda was annexed to the Mogul Empire (1526-1857).
The Golconda fortress is 3 miles in circumference, with concentric masonary-block
walls. Palaces, mosques, and the Qutub Shahi tombs still remain in-tact. The
diamonds seem to have been derived from the conglomerate rocks of the nearby
hills. The diamond mines known as the Kollur mines, were actually situated
around 100 miles east of Golconda, on the right bank of the Krishna river,
west of Chintapilly. All diamonds discovered in the Kollur and other mines
in the area found their way to the diamond market in the city of Golconda,
which was also patronized by foreign nationals such as Persians and
Europeans. Several historically important diamonds such as the Hope,
Darya-i-Nur, Nur-ul-Ain, Tereschenko, Dresden Green, Shah, Shah Jahaan,
Idol's Eye etc. seem to have originated in these mines.
The Indian deposits of diamonds including the blue
diamonds are now completely exhausted, and the present day source of blue
diamonds is mainly the Premier diamond mines in Transvaal, South Africa. The
Blue Magic diamond also seems to have originated in these mines. The eleven
extremely rare blue diamonds that formed part of the De Beers Limited
Edition Millennium Diamonds Collection, exhibited at the Millennium Dome
throughout the year 2000, were all sourced from the Premier diamond mines in
South Africa. The occurrence of blue diamonds is said to be extremely rare,
but if this statement is to be quantified a statistical analysis of the
production of blue diamonds in the Premier mines becomes necessary. It is
said that only one significant blue diamond is produced per year out of all
the Premier diamond mines rough diamond production for an year. This will be
much less than 0.1 %. In the Argyle mines in Western Australia, only a
single carat of pink diamond is produced for every one million carats of
rough diamonds. This works out to an astonishingly low percentage of 0.0001
% of the production.
Rare blue diamond breaks
world record at Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong-October 8th 2007.
The best blue diamonds surpass all other gems for their
sheer beauty. It is a combination of color, brilliance and rarity that makes
blue diamonds so special. Blue diamonds are greatly admired and eagerly
sought after by collectors and connoisseurs of diamonds. As such there is
little wonder that a rare blue diamond weighing only 6.04 carats is reported
to have broken the 20-year old world record for price per carat, held by the
"Hancock Red" diamond. The record-breaking sale took place at a Sotheby's
auction in Hong Kong, held on Monday, October 8th, 2007. The internally
flawless, fancy vivid blue diamond, belonging to a private Asian collector
fetched a price of U.S. $ 7.98 million at the auction, which works out to a
record-breaking price of U. S. $ 1.32 million per carat. The diamond was
purchased by Moussaieff Jewelers of London. The previous record held by the
"Hancock Red" diamond was U. S. $ 926,000 per carat, and was purchased by
the agents of the Sultan of Brunei, at a Sotheby's auction held in 1987. The
Hancock Red actually had a weight of only 0.95 carats, and sold for U.S. $
880,000. This works out to a price of U.S.$ 926,000.
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