Rare, flawless blue diamond, Bleu Royal, sells for $70 million at Swiss auction

The stunning stone, known as “Bleu Royal”, is among the rarest diamonds ever to be unearthed.

At 17.6 carats, it had an estimated value of up to $78.6 million (US$50 million) prior to the sale.

“It’s a huge amount of money given what’s going on in the world today,” said Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s international head of jewellery, after the ring sold at a Christie’s rare jewels sale in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday.

Max Fawcett, head of Christie’s jewellery department in Geneva, said the diamond was unique because of its rich blue colour, known as “fancy vivid blue” in the diamond industry, and its unmodified pear brilliant shape.

“It really ticked all the boxes, which is why we managed to excite collectors all around the world, all the way from the Far East, also to America,” he said.

“We’re extremely delighted with the result.”

The striking stone was set in platinum and 18k rose gold, shouldered by a pear brilliant-cut, 3.12-carat diamond and a pear modified brilliant-cut, 3.07-carat diamond.

It marked the first time the gemstone was handed over to another private collection in more than 40 years.

The ring’s price tag was so staggering, it took up more than half of the total value of the pieces sold at the auction.

Dozens of rare jewellery pieces went under the hammer which, including the blue diamond, brought in a total of $121.2 million (US$77 million).

“It’s clear that the market is still very strong in certain areas,” Mr Fawcett said.

“Coloured stones performed extremely well, as did signed jewellery (jewellery with its house or maker engraved).

“There’s a great market out there for rare things, and there are still collectors looking for the very best.”

Other jewels sold at the auction included an amethyst, turquoise and diamond hummingbird brooch that sold for $294,000, a pair of antique diamond, ruby and garnet swallow brooches that sold for $362,000 and a sapphire, emerald and diamond choker that sold for $198,000 (50,000, 163,800 and 113,400 Swiss francs, respectively).

In a separate sale on Monday, Christie’s sold a Rolex watch worn by Marlon Brando in the 1979 film “Apocalypse Now” for $7.84 million (4.5 million Swiss francs).

The actor had his signature engraved into the back of the watch to prevent it from being swapped accidentally during shooting.

Two years ago, the same watch sold at auction for two million Swiss francs.