A 5.16 carat flawless blue diamond sold for an amazing HK$49.9m (4.2m) in an auction by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong to Alisa Moussaieff, founder of Moussaieff Jewellers Ltd in London. She insists she paid less that the true value of the gem for which she beat a handful of high bidding rivals. Alisa and her husband Sam founded Moussaieff Jewellers half a century ago and supplies gems to royalty and stars, and owns rare stones such as the 5.11-carat “Moussaieff Red,” the world’s biggest natural fancy-red diamond.
Experts have commented that she could sell the diamond for nearly three times the amount at her London based boutique where she plans on changing the gem’s mounting. The gem was bought at an auction where Sotheby’s sold a more than 25m worth of jade, diamonds, pearls and other gems to around 150 bidders.
Jewellery experts have explained that bidders from Asia and mainland china don’t have the best understanding or interest in the value of blue diamonds as they are more interested in hues they consider lucky such as red or pink. “The Chinese are learning very fast and have a good eye for quality,” said Tamara Moussaieff, who flew in from Tel Aviv yesterday to help her mother, Alisa, decide on the purchase.
five days of auctions were held by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong where it sold more than 100 million worth of jewellery, art, watches and antiques.
Due to the financial crisis over the past few years, diamond sales fell dramatically and prices are not expected to return to normal for at least ten years. Larger unflawed stones have been known to keep their value much better through harsh times.
Some of the best selling items were round, white diamonds of the third-highest VVS1 grade or better and fine jadeite. 3.6 million was paid for a necklace of 35 emerald-green jadeite stones and a necklace of 50 flawless, round diamonds of between 1.5-carat and 6.55-carat, and of the highest-possible D colour grading reached 4.4 million, against the top estimate of 3.3 million.
Some people might not be able to afford the millions of pounds needed for real diamonds and instead go for diamante rings or diamante watches