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A rare blue diamond, passed between Europe’s royal houses for more than 300 years, has been sold at auction for $6.7 million.
Known as the Farnese Blue, the pear-shaped 6.16-carat jewel surpassed pre-auction estimates after going under the hammer for the first time at Sotheby’s Geneva Tuesday evening.
Originating from the Golconda mines in southern India, the fancy dark grey-blue diamond takes its name from the second wife of King Philip V of Spain, Elisabeth Farnese, who received it as a wedding gift in 1715.
Courtesy Sotheby's
A rare blue diamond, passed between Europe's royal houses for more than 300 years, sold at a Sotheby's auction for $6.7 million.
courtesy christies
The "Aurora Green" is the largest Fancy Vivid green diamond ever sold at auction. The stone went under the hammer on May 31, 2016 at Christie's auction house in Hong Kong, selling for $16,818,983.
Christies Images Ltd 2016
The world's largest blue diamond, an extremely rare gem known as "The Oppenheimer Blue", sold for $57.5 million at Christie's Geneva May 18, 2016, making it the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction.
Christies Images Ltd 2016
The 14.62 carat Fancy Vivid stone is mounted on a platinum ring and flanked on either side by a trapeze-shaped diamond.
courtesy sotheby's
'The Unique Pink' is the largest Fancy Vivid pink pear-shaped diamond to ever be offered at auction.
courtesy sotheby's
The diamond was sold for $31.6 million by Sotheby's, at an auction in Geneva. The price makes it the most expensive Fancy Vivid pink diamond to sell at auction.
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Cubic zirconia replicas of the original and a modern cut of the Kohinoor diamond, one of the oldest and most famous diamonds in the world.
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The De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 has broken auction records in Asia.
courtesy sotheby's
The stone sold for $31.8 million, which makes it the most expensive piece of jewelry sold at an auction in Asia.
Sotheby's
Sotheby's
auctioned this 9.54 carat ring it says belonged to child star Shirley Temple on April 19, 2016. Though it was expected to fetch between $25 million and $35 million, it failed to sell.
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This 12.03-carat blue diamond fetched $48.4 million at auction on November 11, 2015. It was previously the world's most expensive price-per-carat diamond sold.
FABRICE COFFRINI/Getty Images
The fancy, vivid blue diamond was discovered in South Africa in January last year.
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In recent years, other high-value diamonds have hit the auction block. The 59.60-carat oval cut pink diamond known as "The Pink Star," went for $80 million at a 2013 Sotheby's auction. However, after the buyer defaulted on payment, it was returned to Sotheby's.
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This 118.28 oval white diamond became the largest sold at auction when it went for $30.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2013.
Courtesy Sotheby's
In April 2015, a 100-carat, emerald cut, D color, internally flawless diamond -- the largest of its clarity and cut to ever be shown at auction --
sold for $22 million.
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The 76.02-carat 400-year-old Archduke Joseph diamond set a new record for price per carat for a colorless diamond in 2012, when it sold for $21.5 million at a Christie's auction.
Courtesy Chow Tai Fook
Jeweler Wallace Chan and a team of craftsman worked 47,000 hours to transform the stone it
into this piece, which Chai Tai Fook estimates could be worth $200 million.
Over the next three centuries, the jewel was passed down to through generations of her descendants, which – due to marriages between European houses – saw it join the royal families of France, Italy and Austria. At one point in history, the Farnese Blue is thought to have appeared on a diamond tiara belonging to Marie Antoinette.
The historic diamond was exhibited in London, New York, Singapore and Taipei, before arriving in Geneva ahead of yesterday evening’s auction. The winning bid, made by an as-yet-unidentified buyer, exceeded pre-sale estimates, which had valued the item at between $3.7 and $5.3 million.
The diamond was one of a number of high-profile jewels featured in yesterday’s auction. Among them was a round diamond ring, weighing 51.71 carats, that sold for $9.2 million, and a 50.39-carat oval diamond ring that went for $8.1 million.