BLUE DIAMONDS

OCEAN, SKY, ROYAL

Natural BLUE diamonds

The blueberry, sky, and ocean blue tones are some of the most beautiful colors in the color diamond spectrum. Natural blue diamonds are among the most popular colors for collectors, designers and jewelry enthusiasts. These rare diamonds have been sought after from royalty, featured in movies and ancient stories.

Cause of Color

The process for the formation of blue diamonds, commonly classified as diamonds type IIb, obtain a small amount of boron from their hue. Blue diamonds, could have varying shades and hue like green or gray depending on the amount of boron and its place in the carbon matrix. Accordingly to the Gemological Institute of America, Boron is a highly focused component on the surface of the earth. But the boron content is extremely low in the mantle, where diamonds form. Thus it is unforeseen and challenging to explain boron content of type IIb diamonds. Since decades, blue diamonds have been fascinating since researchers, but the high value and rareness of these jewels and their almost absence of mineral inclusions have been major research obstacles. However, radiation exposure or hydrogen may also cause its color. Natural color blue diamonds with radiation exposure are usually described as green-blue, whereas those of hydrogen-related color are identified as gray-violet and gray-blue.

Origin of Blue Diamonds

Blue diamonds have been found in several areas such as Malaysia, South America, South Africa, Russia and India. The Cullinan Mine in South Africa has been host to many famous blue diamonds in the last few years.

Historic Blue Diamonds

The Hope Diamond (Priceless)
The Hope Diamond is one of the legendary jewels of history, with ownership records dating back almost four centuries. It's much-admired rare blue color is due to trace amounts of boron atoms. Weighing 45.52 carats, its exceptional size has revealed new findings about the formation of gemstones. the jewel is believed to have originated in India, and is known to have been cut from the French Blue (Le bleu de France), presented to King Louis XIV. It acquired its name when it appeared in the catalogue of a gem collection owned by a London banking family called Hope in 1839. Later it was sold to Washington socialite Evelyn Walsh McLean who was often seen wearing it. since 1958, it has been on exhibition at Washington’s National Museum of Natural History.

The Blue Diamond
The Blue, a 13.22-carat fancy vivid flawless pear-shape diamond fetched $24.2 million ($1,799,953 per carat) at Christie’s in Geneva, Switzerland. (May, 2014)

The Mellon Blue Diamond
A Magnificent and Rare 9.75-carat, pear-shaped diamond Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond VVS2 from the celebrated collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon sold for a staggering $32,645,000 ($3,348,205 per carat) – the 9.75-carat, pear-shaped diamond was eagerly sought-after by seven bidders who competed for 20 minutes for the extraordinary stone, ultimately selling to a Hong Kong private collector at Sotheby’s. (Nov, 2014)

The Blue Moon of Josephine ($48.26 million UsD)
The Blue Moon diamond, discovered in January 2014 at the historic Cullinan mine in South Africa, is of significance from both trade and scientific perspectives. the 29.62-carat rough yielded a 12.03-carat fancy vivid blue, Internally Flawless gem and is among the largest known fancy vivid blue diamonds. this stone demonstrates the highest possible color grading for blue diamonds. on Nov 11, 2015 the Blue Moon diamond sold for $48.5 million at Sotheby’s Geneva with the buyer’s premium. Mr. Joseph Lau who purchased the stone renamed it after his daughter dubbing the diamond the “Blue Moon of Josephine”.