Hong Kong - A Hong Kong billionaire has paid a world record 9.34 million US dollars for a rare blue diamond at an auction in Geneva, a news report said Wednesday. Joseph Lau Luen-hung bought the flawless, cushion-shaped 7.03-carat stone at a Sotheby's auction and named it the Star of Josephine after his youngest daughter, the South China Morning Post reported.
The price paid by the real estate tycoon set a world record per carat for any gemstone at auction and a world record for a fancy vivid-blue diamond at auction, the newspaper said.
Despite the global economic slump, the amount paid by Lau at the May 12 auction exceeded pre-auction estimates for the diamond of 5.8 million to 8.5 million US dollars.
Lau, 58, chairman of Chinese Estate Holdings Ltd, is believed to have named the diamond after the daughter he had with former entertainment reporter Chan Hoi-wan, the Post said.
The tycoon has a fortune estimated at 4.3 billion US dollars and was reportedly among the first seven purchasers of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet for private use in 2007.
In the same year, Lau reportedly paid nearly 40 million US dollars for an 1892 oil painting by French post-impressionist Paul Gauguin titled Te Poipoi.
