The Blue Moon to highlight Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale

Sotheby’s is including in its Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale, The Blue Moon diamond. The stone is the largest cushion-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond ever to appear at auction and is of 12.03 carats. It will be a major highlight at the sale slated in Geneva on November 11, 2015.

The Blue Moon has been graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) with the Fancy Vivid Blue – the highest possible colour grading for blue diamonds. Also, this cushion brilliant-cut stone also boasts exceptional clarity, having been declared Internally Flawless by the GIA. According to the GIA Monograph, the hue of the Blue Moon diamond is “likely to have never before been seen within such a large diamond, or any gemstone”, and “could be indescribable to even the most experienced diamantaire or colour theorist; some, however, liken it to the ocean”.

The diamond carries an estimate of US$ 35-55 million.

David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewellery Division, commented: “The tremendous excitement last year over the discovery of a 29.62-carat blue rough diamond at the Cullinan mine in South Africa has now been proved to have been totally justified. Weighing in at 12.03 carats, the ‘Blue Moon’ diamond is a simply sensational stone of perfect colour and purity, combined with a superb cushion shape. Blue, for me, is the most mysterious and magical of all the colours of diamond, and the Blue Moon will now take its place among the most famous gems in the world.”

The diamond was drawn from a 29.62-carat rough blue diamond that was discovered by Petra Diamonds at its Cullinan mine in South Africa last year. It was bought by New York-based Cora International at a tender by Petra Diamonds, reports say. The Blue Moon Diamond’s name refers to the expression ‘once in a blue moon’, which is used to describe something which happens only extremely rarely.