"The Mediterranean Blue," a 10.03-carat Fancy Vivid Blue diamond, is expected to fetch upwards of $20 million as the headliner of Sotheby’s High Jewelry Sale on May 13 in Geneva.
The stone’s exquisite cushion shape, paired with its exceptional size, clarity and saturation, places it in rarefied territory among the world’s most celebrated blue diamonds.
That elite club includes the 15.1-carat “De Beers Cullinan Blue” ($57.5 million, Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2022), the 14.6-carat “Oppenheimer Blue” ($57.5 million, Christie’s Geneva, 2016) and the 12.03-carat “Blue Moon of Josephine” ($48.5 million, Sotheby’s Geneva, 2015).
In addition to receiving the highest possible color grading for a blue diamond from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), The Mediterranean Blue has been found to be Type IIb, a quality level that represents less than 0.5% of all diamonds.
The Mediterranean Blue was crafted from a 31.94-carat rough diamond sourced at the Cullinan mine in South Africa in 2023. After a meticulous planning and cutting process lasting six months, The Mediterranean Blue was faceted into a cushion modified brilliant, a shape that lends a soft, refined look, while the skillfully positioned triangular and kite-shaped facets – characteristic of the brilliant cut – reflect light to create the captivating sparkle that makes this diamond come to life.
The diamond will be unveiled April 8 during a special exhibition hosted at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, a non-profit institution on Abu Dhabi’s landmark Saadiyat Island Cultural District. After that introduction, The Mediterranean Blue will be showcased in Tapei, Hong Kong and New York before its exhibition and sale in Geneva.
“The Mediterranean Blue represents one of nature’s rarest gems," noted Quig Bruning, Sotheby’s Head of Jewelry, Americas & EMEA. "Any vivid blue diamond is a discovery worth celebrating, but one as entrancing as this, particularly being over 10 carats, is a newsworthy event."
According to Sotheby's, only 0.3% of diamonds display a color that would be described as predominately blue among all diamonds submitted to GIA annually and, of those, only a small number are rated Fancy Vivid weighing 10 carats or more.
A fabulous fluke of nature, a blue diamond owes its color to the random presence of boron within the diamond’s carbon structure. Scientists believe that blue diamonds form about 400 miles below the surface, four times deeper than about 99 percent of all other diamonds.
Credits: Images courtesy of Sotheby's.