Origin of name
The 6.04-carat unnamed blue diamond set in a ring was
purchased by Moussaieff Jewellers at a Sotheby's auction held in Hong Kong,
on 8th October 2007, in a sale that created history by breaking the 20-year
old world record for price per carat paid for a diamond at an auction,
previously held by the Hancock red diamond. The diamond remains unnamed, and
until such time it is christened we can refer to it as the Moussaieff
Jewelers' unnamed blue diamond.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The diamond is a 6.04-carat, fancy vivid blue,
internally flawless (IF) diamond, with a square emerald-cut. Fancy vivid is
the highest color grade for any color, and internally flawless is the
highest clarity grade that can be achieved. The cut of the diamond is also a
perfect square emerald-cut. The diamond may qualify for a triple zero
certificate under the AGS (American Gem Society) grading system because of
its ideal cut, ideal color, and ideal clarity. It is a combination of these
three characteristics that caused this unique diamond to break the 20-year
old world record for price per carat paid for a diamond at an auction, in
spite of its relatively smaller size.
In the list of famous blue diamonds given below the Moussaieff Jewelers' unnamed blue diamond occupies the 13th position.
List of famous blue
diamonds
|
S/N |
Name |
carat weight |
color |
|
1 |
Copenhagen Blue Diamond |
45.85 |
fancy blue |
|
2 |
Hope Diamond |
45.52 |
fancy dark grayish blue |
|
3 |
Tereschenko |
42.92 |
fancy blue |
|
4 |
Wittelsbach |
35.56 |
fancy intense blue |
|
5 |
Sultan of Morocco |
35.27 |
fancy grayish blue |
|
6 |
The Blue Heart |
30.82 |
fancy intense blue |
|
7 |
The Heart of Eternity |
27.64 |
fancy vivid blue |
|
8 |
Transvaal Blue |
25.00 |
unknown color grade |
|
9 |
Unnamed Blue-Siba Corporation |
20.17 |
fancy blue |
|
10 |
The Blue Empress |
14.00 |
unknown color grade |
|
11 |
The Begum Blue |
13.78 |
fancy vivid blue |
|
12 |
The Blue Magic |
12.02 |
fancy vivid blue |
|
13 |
Graff Blue |
6.19 |
fancy blue |
|
14 |
Moussaieff Jewelers' unnamed blue diamond |
6.04 |
fancy vivid blue |
The Moussaieff Unnamed Blue Diamond is a rare Type IIb
diamond. It is Type II because of the absence of nitrogen impurities or
presence of nitrogen in undetectable quantities. Diamonds that contain
detectable quantities of nitrogen impurities are known as Type I.
The diamond is Type IIb, because instead of nitrogen it
contains trace quantities of another impurity, boron, which imparts the blue
color to the diamonds. Boron also causes the diamonds to become
semi-conducting, a property that can be used to distinguish between a
natural blue diamond and an artificially enhanced blue diamond, which is
non-conducting. Diamonds that do not contain any impurities at all, whether
nitrogen, boron or hydrogen are known as Type IIa.
The
occurrence of Type I diamonds in nature is almost 98 %, but the occurrence
of Type II diamonds is only 1-2 %. The occurrence of Type IIa diamonds is
1-2 % in nature, but the occurrence of Type IIb diamonds is less than 0.1 %.
Thus Type IIb diamonds are extremely rare in nature.
History
The early history of the diamond such as the country and
mine of origin, the date of discovery, the original owners of the diamond,
etc, are all not known, but given the fact that the diamond is of recent
origin we can safely predict its source. The only diamond mine in the world
producing blue diamonds of significant size and quantity, in the 20th
century was the Premier Diamond Mines of South Africa. Thus the 6.04-carat
blue diamond most probably would have originated in the Premier Diamond
Mines of South Africa.
The owner of the diamond was an
anonymous Asian collector, who had given the diamond to be auctioned at
Sotheby's of Hong Kong, at one of its biannual sales. The rare diamond came
up for sale on Monday, October 8, 2007, at the Sotheby's biannual sale in
Hong Kong. The pre-sale estimate of the diamond was HK $ 48 million
equivalent to US $ 6.19 million.
Most expensive gemstone in the world per
carat
The bidding for the
diamond was very intense with several bidders keen in acquiring the rare
diamond. Finally the hammer was brought down in favor of Alisa Moussaieff
for a record breaking sum of HK $ 61.9 million equivalent to US $ 7.98
million, much above the pre-sale estimate of US $ 6.19 million, making it
the most expensive gemstone in the world, per carat, sold at an auction. The
price per carat fetched by the diamond works out to US $ 1.32 million, which
smashes a 20-year old world record held by the Hancock Red diamond which
sold for US $ 926,000 per carat in 1987. Moussaieff Jewelers, based in
London has a reputation for acquiring very rare and costly gems, such as the
5.11-carat Moussaieff Red diamond, the world's largest red diamond, which
they acquired in the year 2002 for US $ 8 million. It is said that Alisa
Moussaieff had been obsessively watching the rare blue gem change hands for
more than two decades, until she had the opportunity of owning it, when it
came up for auctions at Sotheby's in October, 2007.
After
the auctions Alisa Moussaieff said that it was the rarity of the stone
combined with its luster, that made the stone irresistible. "It seems the
blue diamond mines are extinct - nothing is coming out from mother earth any
more. I have stopped seeing any from South Africa," she said. "It's the
color, purity and "the life" of the stone. "The life" of the stone is the
water, the shimmer inside the diamond. It's cut and the number of carats may
appear on the certificate, but "the life" you have to see in the diamond."
In a clear reference to the size and quality of the diamond, she further
commented that, "size is not always what matters, what matters is quality."
Some famous blue diamonds
Blue diamonds have long fascinated and captivated the
rich and the powerful, monarchs and dictators. The most celebrated of all
blue diamonds is the Hope diamond and among the powerful rulers and the
extraordinarily rich figures who had the fortune or misfortune of owning
this diamond are King Louis XIV, King Louis XV, King Louis XVI, Queen
Marie Antoinette, Henry Philip Hope and other members of the Hope family,
Sultan Abdul Hamid II of Turkey and Evalyn Walsh McLean. Harry Winston
acquired the infamous Hope Diamond when Evalyn Walsh's estate was put up for
sale, and later donated it to the Smithsonian Institution.
The 45.52-carat Hope diamond is the largest blue diamond in the world whose
whereabouts are known. The 45.85-carat, emerald-cut Copenhagen Blue diamond,
that originated in the Jagersfontein mine of South Africa, is slightly
bigger than the Hope diamond, but after the diamond was exhibited in
Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark, in 1960, the whereabouts of the
diamond are unknown, and perhaps remains hidden in the vaults of a private
collector.
The 42.92-carat Tereschenko blue diamond was
owned by the famous Tereschenko family of Russia, who were industrialists,
entrepreneurs and philanthropists in pre-communist Russia. The Tereschenko
diamond was purchased by Robert Mouawad in 1984 at a Christie's auction in
Geneva.
The 35.56-carat Wittelsbach blue diamond had been
in the possession of the Wittelsbach family, the German noble family that
provided the rulers of Bavaria, from the year 1722 until the abdication of
the last king in 1918. The diamond was sold in 1931, re-discovered in 1962
and finally sold to a private collector in 1964.
Occurrence of blue diamonds
The main source of blue diamonds in the world before the
18th century was the famous Kollur mines of Golconda, in Southern India. The
historic diamonds such as the Hope diamond, the Tereschenko diamond, the
Wittelsbach diamond, and the Sultan of Morocco diamond, all originated in
the mines of Golconda.
However after the discovery of
diamonds in South Africa in the late 19th century, the main source of blue
diamonds in the world became the Premier Diamond Mines of Transvaal, South
Africa. The Blue Heart, the Heart of Eternity, the Transvaal blue and all
other blue diamonds in the above list below No. 6, originated in the Premier
Diamond Mines of South Africa. Besides this, the eleven blue diamonds that
was exhibited as part of the De Beers Millennium Diamond Collection together
with the Millennium Star diamond at the Millennium Dome in London,
throughout the year 2000, also originated in the Premier Diamond Mines.
However, it took almost 10 years to put together the collection of 11 blue
diamonds for the exhibition. This gives an indication as to the rarity of
existence of blue diamonds. It has been reported that only one significant
blue diamond is mined in the Premier Diamond Mines every year, out of all
the rough diamond production from the mines for an year. But, presently blue
diamonds are even getting scarcer, and as Alisa Moussaieff had said it is
difficult to see any new blue diamond coming out of South Africa. It appears
that blue diamonds may become extinct, unless a new diamond mine producing
blue diamonds like the Premier Diamond Mines, is discovered. This explains
the demand for natural blue diamonds and the enhanced price realized for the
6.04-carat unnamed blue diamond, at the Sotheby's auction
