Ocean Dream Diamond Fetches Record $17.3 Million at Christie's, Doubling Its 2014 Price
Updated
Updated · Forbes · May 14
Ocean Dream Diamond Fetches Record $17.3 Million at Christie's, Doubling Its 2014 Price
13 articles · Updated · Forbes · May 14
$17.3 million bought the 5.5-carat Ocean Dream after a 20-minute bidding battle among three collectors at Christie's Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale, setting a record near $3.5 million per carat for a fancy vivid blue-green diamond.
GIA said the triangular stone is the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond it has ever graded; its rare Type Ia composition and color—linked to natural radiation near the Earth's surface—made cutting and polishing unusually precise.
The gem had already sold at Christie's in 2014 for $8.6 million and was previously shown at the Smithsonian's "Splendor of Diamonds" exhibition alongside other rare colored stones.
Christie's sold 86 of 87 lots for $66.5 million overall, with a natural-pearl necklace reaching $5.3 million and a 22.28-carat Kashmir sapphire ring topping $3.5 million.
Why did one rare blue diamond fetch a record price while a similar gem failed to sell just one day before?
Can natural gems like the 'Ocean Dream' maintain their extreme investment value against the rise of identical lab-grown diamonds?
How is a diamond's ethical history from 1990s Central Africa verified before a record-breaking seventeen-million-dollar sale?