Bulgari’s blue diamond ring, Laguna Blu sold for more than $25 million. Photo courtesy Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s Geneva made headlines once again with its spectacular Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction, achieving its best performance in five years. The star of the show was the highly anticipated Bulgari Laguna Blu, which fetched an astounding price of $25,189,429, making it the most valuable jewel ever sold by Bulgari.
The exquisite 11.16-carat Fancy-Vivid Blue Diamond now holds the title of the largest blue diamond in a Bulgari jewel. The gem, set in a bespoke Bulgari necklace worn by Priyanka Chopra Jones at the recent Met Gala, captivated audiences on the red carpet. This historic diamond, created by Bulgari in 1970 during a transformative era for the renowned Italian high jewellery house, has now embarked on a new chapter as it changes hands for the first time in over 50 years.
Olivier Wagner, Head of Jewellery at Sotheby’s Geneva, said, “The sale of the Laguna Blu tops the remarkable performance of our Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale that saw exceptional coloured gemstones, in particular emeralds and yellow diamonds, punch through their high estimates, in such a spectacular fashion. There is no doubt that high quality high jewellery can still command sky high prices.”
Sotheby’s said that fewer than ten fancy vivid blue diamonds over 10 carats have come to auction anywhere in the world in the past few decades. Blue diamonds, of any kind and any size, are among the rarest coloured diamonds. Any blue diamond qualifying as Fancy Vivid – the brightest hue a diamond can display – over 10 carats are extremely rare.