The De Beers Millennium Jewel 4.
The largest oval fancy vivid blue diamond ever to appear at auction – the De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 – will lead Sotheby’s Spring sales in Hong Kong on April 5. Th2 10.10 carat internally flawless stone is estimated at US$30-35 million. Offered for sale from an Asian private collection it is the only oval-shaped stone among the twelve rare diamonds – eleven blue and one colourless – that form the world-renowned De Beers Millennium Jewels collection unveiled in 2000 in celebration of the millennium. Each of the eleven blue diamonds in the collection boasts a combination of colour intensity, even saturation and brilliance that are rivalled by few other stones.
QUEK Chin Yeow, Deputy Chairman, Asia, and Chairman International Jewellery, Asia, said, “Over the years Sotheby’s has had the honour to bring to the market many important coloured diamonds, including the Blue Moon of Josephine that set the world auction record for any diamond last November. The market for coloured diamonds has gone from strength to strength”.
UPDATE: It sold for US$31.8 million, the highest price ever paid for a jewel at auction in Asia.