Geneva - A rare, fancy-cut vivid blue diamond fetched a world-record 10,498,500 million Swiss francs (9,488,754 dollars) at an auction by Sotheby's Tuesday in Geneva. The cut and polished gem, weighing 7.03 carats, was sold by Cullinan Mine in South Africa to an as yet unknown telephone bidder.
It was the auction house's first sale of a diamond directly from a mine.
The naturally coloured diamond was cut from an original blue diamond of 26.58 carats, mined last year, and was deemed internally flawless, Sotheby's said.
Blue diamonds are only known to come from the South African mine. Another famous stone from the mine, the Great Star of Africa, is owned by the British royal family.
David Bennett of Sotheby's called the mine "a most wonderful source" and said that the auction was "very exciting."
The final bid for the diamond, along with other items that went under the hammer as part of the auction house's spring sale, were signs that of the "resilience and attraction of fine jewelry," Bennett said.
"Even in this market, the general economic environment, great things will still be contended for," he said.
The previous record had been set in 2007 in Hong Kong at a Sotheby's sale. That vivid blue diamond, weighing 6.04 carats, sold for 7.98 million dollars.
The final price includes a buyer's premium. The original estimate for the item, without the premium, was between 6.85 million and 10 million francs.
Other notable items on the block during the evening sale included a pink, pear-shaped diamond that sold for 2.26 million francs.
Two pieces by Harry Winston sold well, Sotheby's said. One, a diamond ring weighing 22.3 carats, went for 1.76 million francs while a sapphire-and-diamond bracelet fetched 1.53 million francs.
Sotheby's total for the night was 39.5 million francs, on an estimated total range of 29.3 to 42.8 million francs.
Bennet said the sale was "very encouraging," though he added that after spending two months with the diamond he would be sorry to see it go.
