De Beers Millennium Diamond
Today in Hong Kong, one of the most impressive and rare blue diamonds in the world is set to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s for an estimated $4.6-$5.9 million. The 5.18 carat vivid blue, internally flawless, pear shaped diamond is the first blue diamond from De Beers’ exquisite Millennium Collection to come up for sale since going into a private collection following the year 2000 celebrations.
Blue diamonds – like the famous Hope and Wittelsbach diamonds – get their colour from the presence of Boron during their creation and are extremely rare and precious. The Millennium Collection, which was brought together over a 20-year period from De Beers’ mines, was meticulously polished by diamond polishing experts Steinmetz over a two-year period, supervised by Andrew Coxon, president of the De Beers Institute of Diamonds, to maximise their colour, beauty and brilliance.
Source: Vogue UK
Here’s a look at two other famous blue diamonds, The Hope Diamond and The Wittlesbach Diamond:
“The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond is an object of intrigue and legend, certainly one of the great gemstones of the world. We are thrilled to present this icon of history—and gemology—to the public for the first time since it was displayed at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958.”
– Jeffrey Post, curator of the National Gem Collection