A cut-cornered rectangular step-cut fancy intense blue diamond weighing 3.47 carats set a price-per-carat world record for a blue diamond after it sold for $1.9 million per carat to reach almost $6.7 million at Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels Auction.
The gem's final price nearly tripled Sotheby's pre-sale estimate of between $2 million and $2.5 million and pushed up the auction final results to $26.2 million. The blue rock was previously owned by an anonymous midwestern family.
In total, the fine jewelry broker garnered $34 million across its New York spring auctions, says Rapaport.
According to Sotheby's, buyers from all over the world flooded the Big Apple also emptied their wallets by acquiring a 72.96-carat diamond bracelet for $1.4 million and a 13.70-carat Tiffany & Co. diamond ring for $1.2 million.