Diamond News - Week of 11-23-2014

November 20, 2014 at Sotheby's New York - A 9.75ct, VVS2 fancy vivid blue pear shaped diamond set a new world auction record for total price and price-per-carat at a Sotheby's New York auction on November 20th.

The blue pear shaped diamond pendant fetched an impressive $32,645,000, which was a new world auction record for a blue diamond.

All bids were taken over the phone and rivalry between seven starting bidders finally narrowed down to two final bidders in a rally that lasted for about 20 minutes. Bidding ended when a private Hong Kong collector won the diamond, which was then named, "The Zoe Diamond". This rare diamond possessed a notable purity of blue color and high clarity. Many blue diamonds will contain other noticeable colors, graining or other imperfections during formation.

The diamond belonged to the estate of the late Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, wife of philanthropist and horticulturist, Paul Mellon. Proceeds from the sale of her estate benefit the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation to support ongoing horticultural and education endeavors.