April 2022
The De Beers Blue — A 15-Carat Vivid Blue — Fetches $57.5 Million in Hong Kong
The De Beers Blue, a 15.10-carat step-cut fancy vivid blue diamond, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong on 27 April 2022 for HK$450.9 million (approximately US$57.5 million), making it one of the most expensive blue diamonds ever sold at auction. Cut from an exceptional 39.34-carat rough, the stone was among the largest fancy vivid blue diamonds to appear at auction in years.
Step-cut fancy vivid blues are particularly prized because the step-cut style — with its large, open facets — makes it far more difficult to mask inclusions or uneven color distribution than a brilliant cut. To produce a 15-carat vivid blue from a 39-carat rough, with the color evenly distributed and the clarity sufficient for a step cut, requires both exceptional rough and exceptional cutting skill. The De Beers Blue's result of approximately US$3.8 million per carat placed it among the most expensive blue diamonds ever sold per carat, though it fell just short of the record set by the Blue Moon of Josephine. The sale confirmed that demand for top-tier blue diamonds — the rarest of the rare, with fewer than one in ten million diamonds displaying any blue — remains as strong as ever, particularly among Asian collectors.