Bvlgari Laguna Blu = $25m

The Bulgari Laguna Blu sold for $25 million after a four-minute bidding war. The 11.6 carat fancy-vivid blue diamond is a rarity three times over, as it is a blue diamond, a jewel signed by Bulgari, and an unseen and unmodified gemstone. The Italian jewelry maker set the oceanic-blue diamond in a bespoke diamond necklace for actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The stone was removed and remounted onto a ring

An 11.16 carat fancy vivid blue diamond goes under the hammer at Sotheby’s. Named the Bulgari Laguna Blu, the pear-shape cut diamond is the highest grade blue diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). For blue diamonds the 'vivid' label is so rare that of all the blue stones submitted to the GIA, less than 1% are found to be vivid.

Bleu Royal diamond makes $43.8m

The 17.61 carat, pear-shaped Bleu Royal diamond, set in a ring, fetched $43.8m. Part of a private collection for 50 years, it was the first time the Bleu Royal was sold at an auction. "This diamond is amongst the rarest to have been unearthed," Christie's said three fancy vivid blue diamonds over 10 carats have appeared for sale in its 250-year auction history, in 2010, 2014 and 2016. The 14.62 carat Oppenheimer Blue sold for over $57m in 2016

Zimbabwe’s Sandawana mines

Zimbabwe’s Sandawana mines have been an important producer of emeralds for 40 years. Sandawana has provided the industry with large quantities of fine, typically small, stones. Mining at the most active area, the Zeus mine, is underground, with the ore processed in a standard washing/ screening trommel plant. Sandawana emeralds typically have a very high chromium content.

The Zimbabwe craton covers a large part of Zimbabwe and consists of Archean greenstone belts and granite terrains. The greenstone belts are important producers of gold, but they also contain significant amounts of chromium and nickel. The Great Dike, 530 km long and up to 4 km wide, crosses the Zimbabwe craton from north to south and is a major source of chromium.

Sandawana emeralds are typically found in the zone at the contact of small pegmatite bodies and greenstone. (Zeus mine, 25/28 stope, 200 foot level)

The Red Wonder Cross

The Red Wonder Cross was designed by Oren Seren, Master Diamond Cutter of Seren Diamonds, and features 11 fancy red diamonds (0.42-0.93 carats), as well as colorless and blue diamonds, set in white gold. The cross was completed in 2008. Red diamonds are so rare that GIA records over a 30 year period from 1957 to 1987 show there was no mention of a GIA lab report issued for a diamond with “red” as the only descriptive term. Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine, which was estimated to produce 90% of gem-quality pink and red diamonds, closed at the end of 2020.

Magnificent Jewels at Christies 2021

The Dec 8 Magnificent Jewels sale at Christies brought $54.9m.

An oval-shaped, 17.73 carat Kashmir sapphire ring made $2.1m, nearly triple its $800k upper valuation.

A cut-cornered rectangular mixed-cut, 70.19-carat, fancy vivid yellow diamond pendant necklace made $2.9m, just below its high estimate. A pear modified brilliant-cut, 7-carat, fancy-blue diamond ring beat its high estimate, going for $2.2m.

A 8.74-carat, fancy-dark-grey-blue, internally flawless diamond flanked by triangular-shaped diamonds fetched $2.6m, smashing its $1.5m upper valuation. A cut-cornered rectangular mixed-cut, fancy vivid orangy-pink diamond, weighing 5.38 carats sold for $2.7m, within its estimate.

Top Diamonds at auction 2014

The Ocean Dream – a 5.50-carat Fancy Vivid Blue-Green diamond sold for $8,633,798, or $1,569,781 per carat.

In May, Sotheby’s sold the Graff Yellow, a 100.09-carat Fancy Vivid yellow diamond, for a record $16.3m.

In May at Christie's, the Winston Blue, a 13.22-carat Flawless Fancy Vivid Blue diamond, sold for $23.7m, setting a world auction record for price per carat for a blue diamond at $1,799,953 per carat.

That record was broken by Mrs. Paul Mellon’s 9.75-carat Fancy Vivid Blue diamond, renamed the Zoe Diamond sold for $32,645,000, or $3,348,205 per carat at Sotheby’s in November.

At Sotheby’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale in October, a 8.41-carat Fancy Vivid Pink diamond made $17.8m, setting a new world auction record for a Fancy Vivid pink.

A 75.97-carat pear-shaped D Flawless diamond sold at Christie’s Geneva for $14.5m.

A 70.33-carat Cushion Brilliant-Cut Diamond – $14,201,234.

A 89.23-carat Pear-Shaped Diamond – $11,085,000

A Belle Époque Diamond Devant-de-Corsage Brooch, by Cartier – $17,581,612 Pair of Fancy Vivid blue & Fancy Vivid pink diamond earrings, by Bvlgari – $15,820,731

Van Cleef & Arpels

Dragon clip, 1969

It has taken Van Cleef & Arpels more than 15 years to amass the maison’s 850-strong private jewellery collection.

Dragon Mysterieux clip in gold with garnets, emeralds, Mystery-set rubies, sapphires and diamonds, 2013.

Composed of accessories, jewels and objets d’art from 1907, the creations were sourced from auction sales, dealers and private collectors. Egyptian inspired bracelet in platinum with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds and onyx, 1924.

Peony clip in platinum and gold with Mystery-set rubies and diamonds, 1937

Bird cage in gold and glass with lapis lazuli, coral, beryl, agate, enamel, wood, rubies and sapphires, 1935

Model of the Varuna yacht in gold, silver, jasper, wood and enamel, 1907

A matching set of necklace and earrings in platinum and gold with turquoise and diamonds, 1955

Three birds clip, 1946. Gold, platinum, sapphires, rubies, diamonds.

Spanish Ballerina, 1941

Hawaii Bouquet clip (1939).

‘Infinite Blue’ falls short at auction - $25.3m

The “Infinite Blue” diamond has sold. The 11.28-carat fancy vivid blue diamond was estimated to sell for between $26m and $37m at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. The diamond fell short of that when a buyer paid $25.3 million for the stone at the single-lot sale.

Orange Diamonds

The largest fancy-vivid orange diamond known to exist sold for $36 million at Christie’s International in Geneva in late 2013. The 14.82-carat pear-shaped stone’s price was about $2.4 million per carat, this was a per-carat record for any colored diamond at a public sale. The gem also set a record for an orange diamond of its type. Pure orange diamonds are impossibly rare. Most diamonds contain some nitrogen. In orange diamonds the nitrogen atoms have grouped themselves in a very specific way. This happens during and right after the diamond is formed. Light Orange, Fancy, Fancy Intense Orange, Fancy Vivid Orange and Fancy Deep Orange

Nitrogen arrangements absorb light in the blue and yellow region of the spectrum producing an orange color. Orange Diamonds may contain a brown, yellow or pinkish modifying color. The strength of colour is one of the most important factors in determining the value of a natural color diamond.

Value increases with the intensity of the most prominent colour of the diamond.

A 4.08-Carat Fancy Vivid Orange Diamond Ring blew past it's US$1.6m – 1.8m estimate at Sotheby's Hong Kong auction in April 2016, bringing $2.3m The 'Mandarin Orange' is a 4.19-Carat Fancy Vivid Orange Diamond. It sold for $2.9m in 2011.

The Pumpkin Diamond is 5.54 carats and rated as Fancy Vivid Orange by the GIA. Halle Berry wore the ring to the 2002 Oscars where she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Monster's Ball. The popularity of orange diamonds zoomed.

2.00-carat, fancy vivid orange, heart-shaped Lady Orquidea Diamond

50.34 carat marquise-shaped Natural Fancy Deep Brown-Orange diamond. $1.1m.

Fancy Vivid Orange Yellow & Fancy Brown Orange Pink IF Pear Shape Diamond TW 10.62cts.