The Oppenheimer Blue, To Auction At Christie’s Geneva
Christie’s has just announced that it will be auctioning off the largest ever Blue Diamond to ever go up for auction at its Geneva auction house in May. This stone has been called, The Gem of Gems.
Christie’s plan is that will likely to make serious waves in the auction world for prized Blue Diamonds.
The Oppenheimer Blue
Christie’s will be auctioning the Oppenheimer Blue, a 14.62 carat emerald cut Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond that was once owned by Sir Phillip Oppenheimer, of the famous family that runs Anglo American plc (OTCMKT:NGLOY) and has controlled De Beers since Y 1926.
According to Christie’s, as Oppenheimer had access to the most incredible Diamonds in the entire world, the fact that he chose this Diamond to personally own attests to its beauty, desirability and rarity.
When a blue diamond is formed, the carbon structure is disrupted by the element Boron, whose result is a diamond that exhibits Blue color (the same Boron used in iPhone 6s).
The Shades of Blue
Fancy Blue, Fancy Intense & Fancy Blue Diamonds
Blue does not appear in all Blue Diamonds in the same way, as the Boron is not incorporated to the same extent every time it appears.
Thus, some Diamonds exhibit the Blue more strongly, such as in Fancy Vivid Blue and Fancy Intense Blue diamonds, and some wore weakly, such as Fancy Light Blue and Fancy Blue.
The Oppenheimer Blue’s amazing shade is a testament to the beauty of the natural process that results in Diamonds of color.
Christie’s Oppenheimer Blue is just one of a number of historic blue diamonds which they have sold, including a Blue Diamond ring owned by Marie Antoinette in Y 1983, the Tereshchenko Diamond in Y 1984, the Wittelsbach Blue in Y 2008 and the Begum Blue in Y 1995.
The Oppenheimer Blue stands out in this case because it is a pure Fancy Vivid Blue with no overtones, and the highest intensity possible.
The Diamond is expected to break the Blue Diamond records that have been set in recent months. Beginning with the Zoe Diamond in Y 2014, Blue Diamonds have become in such high demand that the amount of money that buyers are willing to pay for them has increased in kind.
When the 9.75 carat Fancy Vivid Blue pear shaped ‘Zoe’ Diamond was sold, it became the highest price per carat for a diamond ever sold at auction and the highest price for a Blue Diamond ever sold.
These records were subsequently beaten in November of Y 2015 when the Blue Moon of Josephine Diamond went under the hammer. It sold for $48.5-M, and became the most expensive Diamond ever sold at auction and the highest price per carat ever paid for a Diamond at auction.
The 12.03 carat Fancy Vivid Blue ‘Blue Moon of Josephine’ Diamond sold at Sotheby’s (NYSE:BID))
Given the state of the Diamond auction market, and how Blue Diamonds are in such high demand but with so little supply, it is not out of the question that the records of the Blue Moon of Josephine to be broken.
If this is the case, the Oppenheimer Blue would have to sell for greater than $48.5-M, or greater than $4.04-M per carat.
It is also a 14.62 carat Diamond, making it bigger than the Blue Moon’s 12.03 carats.
We will wait to see how high the Oppenheimer Blue will set a new record.
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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