Blue diamond fetches $ 9.4 million at Sotheby's

SURAT: Inwhat could be a possible sign of recession-hit Indian diamond industry's gradualrevival, Petra Diamonds has sold a stunning blue diamond from the Cullinan minefor a record $ 9.4 million highest auction price every for a fancy vivid bluediamond at Sotheby's in Geneva on Tuesday.Diamantaires said therecord price obtained for the exceptional blue diamond at Sotheby's will helpfuel consumer confidence in the international market. "The priceachieved is a world record by value per carat. This will certainly increaseconsumers' confidence in buying sparkling stones," said KK Sharma, executivedirector, Indian Diamond Institute (IDI). Petra, which bought thehistorical Cullinan mine from De Beers last year, has succeeded in notching upan impressive $ 1,349,752 per carat, establishing a new world record price percarat for any gemstone sold at an auction. The blue diamond was cut from a26.58-carat rough stone that Petra discovered in 2008 at its Cullinan diamondmine in South Africa. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA)graded the 7.03-carat stone as fancy vivid blue and internally flawless.Sotheby's noted that this blue diamond beat out the previous most expensivefancy vivid blue diamond of 6.04 carats, which was sold by Sotheby's for almost$ 8 million in Hong Kong in October 2007. The third most expensivefancy vivid blue diamond sold was also a 3.7-carat pear-shaped diamond. It wassold by Sotheby's for almost $5 million in Geneva a year ago.According to industry experts, the demand for big-sized stones isfast picking up in the international markets like Hong Kong, Japan, China, theUS etc. There are many diamond manufacturers in Surat and Mumbai, who haveventured into the manufacturing of big-sized stones solitaires. "Theauction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's are fuelling the consumerconfidence around the world. While the world is reeling under recession, thesale of blue diamond has revived the hope for the diamond industry," said BharatGosai, a leading diamantaire.