The "Ocean Dream," a rare blue-green diamond of global significance, was auctioned in Geneva, Switzerland for more than 13.5 million Swiss francs, or approximately 560 million baht, setting a new record for this type of diamond.
The renowned auction house Christie's stated that this diamond is the largest "Fancy Vivid Blue-Green Diamond" ever discovered, weighing 5.5 carats and cut in a triangular shape.
The "Ocean Dream" diamond was found in Central Africa during the 1990s and has become one of the rare gemstones attracting global collectors. It was previously displayed in the "Splendour of Diamonds" exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in 2003.
Reports indicate that the final auction price exceeded the pre-sale estimate by about 7 to 10 million Swiss francs, or roughly 289.4 to 413.5 million baht, by a significant margin.
Rahul Kadakia, Chairman of Christie's Asia Pacific, revealed that the auction winner was a private collector, and the auction lasted about 20 minutes, reflecting high demand in the rare gemstone market.
Additionally, the latest sale price was more than double the amount the same diamond fetched at Christie's in 2014, when it sold for approximately 8.5 million US dollars.
Tobias Cormind, Managing Director of the online jewelry company 77 Diamonds, said in a statement that this auction result is a worthy price for the world's rarest blue-green diamond.
Meanwhile, Sotheby's held an auction for a 6-carat "Fancy Vivid Blue" diamond mined from the Cullinan mine in South Africa, but it failed to attract buyers during the auction.
Sotheby's noted that this diamond was estimated at 7.2 to 9.6 million Swiss francs, or about 9.2 to 12.3 million US dollars. Although the auction did not close with a sale, several collectors are currently negotiating purchases.
Both Christie's and Sotheby's agree that the collector market is increasingly interested in rare colored diamonds, as natural colored diamonds are extremely scarce compared to the total diamonds mined worldwide, especially in blue, green, and mixed blue-green shades, which are among the rarest in the global diamond industry.
. France24
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