Rare 10-carat blue diamond among $100M worth of gems going up for auction
A rare 10-carat Mediterranean blue diamond from South Africa was on display in an exhibit featuring $100 million worth of the world's rarest diamonds.
The Sotheby's exhibit showcased eight diamonds totaling a weight of over 700 carats in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), as The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Sotheby's is expecting to auction off the massive blue stone for around $20 million in May.
Also on display were red, yellow, pink and colorless diamonds.
Quig Bruning, Sotheby's head of jewels in North America, Europe and the Middle East, said the exhibit's location was intentional, as the nation is known for its high interest in diamonds.
The UAE took the title as the world's largest trade hub for rough diamonds in 2021, according to the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre.
"We have great optimism about the region," Bruning said, according to AP.
He added, "We feel very strongly that this is the kind of place where you have both traders and collectors of diamonds of this importance and of this rarity."
The blue diamond shown in the exhibit is considered to be one of the most important blue diamonds ever discovered, according to sources.
Nearly $23 billion worth of rough stone was traded in 2021.
In 2023, over $38 billion in the value of trade of rough and polished diamonds was recorded in the UAE.
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