Personal Consultation
By Benji, Content ManagerBlue diamonds are incredibly rare and do not often appear at auctions, let alone jewelry stores. This is partly why the Blue Briolette is such a famous diamond. At 10.48 carats, which is not an extraordinary diamond size, the fancy deep blue diamond managed to sell for $10.8 million at Sotheby's in Geneva in 2012. That is $1.036 million per carat! The buyer was none other than the esteemed Laurence Graff, who outbid others in an intense bidding war resulting in a sale price nearly double the initial estimate of $3.5 million to $4.5 million.
The History
Not much about the Blue Briolette's background and history is known. Many famous diamonds have a rich history, having passed through many hands before somehow reaching a famous collector or institution. In this case, our most recent and only source is the Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels Sale in Geneva, where the diamond was introduced, auctioned, and then sold to Laurence Graff for a steep sum.
About Blue Diamonds
Blue diamonds are Type II diamonds and belong to the Type IIb category, which are diamonds void of nitrogen (the cause for yellow diamonds) but contain boron, thus giving the diamond a cool blue coloring. They are very rare and only found in several locations around the world including India and South Africa.
Other Famous Blue Diamonds
Although rare, the Blue Briolette Diamond is not the only famous blue diamond. In fact, it is the smallest of the eight most famous blue diamonds. Having said that, it is also one of the most recent blue diamond discoveries, which may account for its smaller size. The world's diamond supply, blue diamonds included, is dwindling, thereby leading to smaller sized diamond finds. Additionally, the Blue Briolette is one of the only significantly sized pure blue diamonds with a fancy deep blue intensity level. Although the Transvaal Blue Diamond, the Heart of Eternity, the Blue Lili Diamond, the Sultan of Morocco Diamond, the Tereschenko Diamond, the Blue Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond, and the Blue Hope Diamond are all fascinating blue diamonds, none of them are fancy deep pure blue stones. They are unknown, fancy vivid blue, unknown, grayish-blue, fancy blue, fancy deep grayish-blue, and fancy deep grayish-blue respectively.
Leibish Blue Diamonds
Blue diamonds may be hard to come by, but LEIBISH stocks quite a nice selection of natural blue diamonds. Many other stones in different color intensity levels are available such as fancy vivid blue, fancy intense blue, and light blue diamonds. Of course diamonds with secondary colors like fancy greenish blue, fancy deep violetish blue, and fancy light greenish blue diamonds are part of the collection as well.
