The Mediterranean Blue, an extremely rare and exceptional Fancy Vivid Blue diamond weighing 10.03 carats, sold for $21.5 million at Sotheby’s high jewelry auction in Geneva. Since carats weigh about 2 grams, the diamond was paid $10.75 million per gram. The diamond was sold after two bidders battled it out for nearly three minutes. The winning bidder was a telephone caller represented by Frank Everett, vice president of Jewelry Americas, who bid on behalf of a private American collector who wanted to add the blue diamond to her collection. Lucky her.
It has been an extraordinary honor to be entrusted with the advance stewardship of the fate of the only intense blue diamond of this size and caliber to be offered for sale in some time. It is undoubtedly the signature stone of the season and ranks among the finest blue diamonds we have ever sold. The excitement it has generated during its global exhibition tour, culminating in today’s result, clearly reflects the growing global interest in rare and flawless diamonds and a keen pursuit of quality by collectors who continue to seek out the world’s finest.
Quig Bruning, Sotheby’s Head of Jewellery for the Americas and EMEA, and Auctioneer of the Geneva auction
The Mediterranean Blue was mined just last year from the legendary Cullinan mines in South Africa and has generated a lot of interest in the diamond industry and around the world since its announcement in March. Before its latest exhibition in Geneva, the diamond was presented at Sotheby’s in Abu Dhabi, along with seven other diamonds and gemstones, with a total value of over $100 million. Its subsequent tour of the Middle East, Asia and the United States has only heightened the anticipation among collectors and connoisseurs. In addition to receiving the highest color classification possible for a blue diamond from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the Mediterranean Blue was found to be a Type IIb, a classification that represents less than 0.5% of all diamonds. The stone’s cushion shape accentuates its exceptional saturation, placing it in an exclusive category, even among the most beautiful diamonds in the world.
Crafting a colored diamond is a challenging task, requiring numerous decisions to balance the largest possible size, the best clarity and the most vivid color. The 31.94-carat rough diamond from which the Mediterranean Blue was created was studied for over a year after its discovery in South Africa in 2023. After a meticulous six-month planning and cutting process, the diamond was fashioned into a cushion-modified brilliant cut. This shape creates a soft, refined appearance, while the carefully placed triangular and kite-shaped facets characteristic of the brilliant cut reflect light to create sparkle.
Finding a blue diamond is incredibly rare. The main mine to produce blue diamonds in more recent times, albeit with decreasing regularity, has been Cullinan in South Africa, where the Mediterranean Blue was discovered. Less than 0.1% of diamonds mined have any trace of blue color, and a tiny percentage of those are graded Fancy Vivid Blue. Cullinan has produced many of the world’s most famous diamonds, including the 530-carat Great Star of Africa, the largest faceted colorless diamond in the world. Other outstanding blue diamonds from the Cullinan mine include The Blue Moon of Josephine, a 12.03-carat cushion-shaped Internally Flawless Fancy Vivid Blue diamond that sold for $48.5 million ($4,028,941 per carat) at Sotheby’s Geneva in 2015, and more recently The De Beers Blue, a 15.10-carat step-cut Fancy Vivid Blue diamond that sold for HK$451 million / $57.5 million in 2022 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.
