The world's largest blue diamond, a very rare gem, was recently auctioned in Switzerland and became the most expensive diamond in the world.
The 14.62 carat “Oppenheimer Blue” diamond in the rare Fancy Vivid Blue category has never been sold at auction.
The diamond was just sold for 57.5 million USD (nearly 1.3 trillion VND) at Christie's Geneva auction house, Switzerland on the evening of May 18. At this price, it became The most expensive diamond in the world was sold at auction.
The sparkling gem was sold to a private collector, whose identity has not yet been disclosed.
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Oppenheimer Blue diamonds sell for record price
The 14.62 carat Oppenheimer Blue diamond is the largest and highest quality ever sold at auction. The rectangular cut gem is said to be extremely rare with its characteristic deep blue color and is considered the “diamond of diamonds”.
The diamond is named after its late owner, Sir Philip Oppenheimer. He is a diamond merchant, owning the famous diamond company De Beers.
The Oppenheimer family also owned a 12.03-carat diamond called Josephine's Blue Moon, which held the previous record for the most expensive diamond in the world at $48.4 million. It was bought by a Chinese real estate billionaire, Mr. Joseph Lau, in November for his 7-year-old daughter Josephine.
It is known that blue diamonds are very rare, accounting for only about 0.0001% of the world's diamonds, according to Christie's auction house.
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AFP quoted a Christie's spokesman as saying the anonymous buyer would have to spend a total of $57.54 million on all fees and commissions to own Oppenheimer Blue.
Before the auction, experts in the field said that the blue diamond would have a chance to beat the record set by Sotheby's auction in November 2015, when Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau spent 48.4 million USD for it. buy the 12.03 carat “Blue Moon of Josephine” diamond.
After a 20-minute auction, Christie's announced that the Oppenheimer Blue had become the most expensive diamond ever auctioned and also the most precious diamond in front of hundreds of guests attending a palace in Geneva.
AFP said Oppenheimer Blue has passed through many owners since Mr. Oppenheimer's death and reappeared for the first time yesterday on the auction floor.