The ultrarare 29.6 ct. blue diamond found at the Cullinan mine in South Africa fetched $25.6 million, or $867,780 a carat, at a recent tender, said mine owner Petra Diamonds.
The diamond was bought for Cora International NY through South African company Golden Yellow Diamonds.
“This sale result affirms this stone as one of the most important blue diamonds ever recovered,” said Johan Dippenaar, CEO of Petra, in a statement.
The stone, discovered in January, was described as “outstanding vivid blue with extraordinary saturation, tone, and clarity.”
“It has the potential to yield a polished stone of great value and importance,” the miner said.
The buyer likely hopes to top the result achieved by the Star of Josephine, which started as a 26.6 ct. piece of blue rough—also found at Cullinan—and was turned into a 7 ct. polished stone and then sold for $9 million at Sotheby’s in 2009.
Petra bought the Cullinan mine from De Beers in 2007.
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