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.
©Christie's
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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