Photo courtesy Petra Diamonds
An exceptional blue diamond weighing 39.34 carats has found a new home with De Beers.
The company, in partnership with manufacturer Diacore, has agreed to pay Petra Diamonds US$40.2 million ($1 million per carat) for the stone, making it the mining group’s most expensive diamond sale to date.
The Type IIb diamond was recovered in April from Petra’s Cullinan mine, located in South Africa.
“This sets a new milestone for Petra in achieving its highest price for a single stone,” says Petra’s CEO, Richard Duffy. “[It] follows the sale of the 299-carat Type IIa white diamond in March of this year and the five blue diamonds comprising the Letlapa Tala Collection in November 2020, purchased by the same De Beers-Diacore partnership.”
Cullinan has produced many notable finds in recent years, including:
- ‘Cullinan Heritage,’ a 507-carat rough white diamond, which sold for US$35.3 million in 2010;
- ‘Blue Moon of Josephine,’ a 29-carat rough blue diamond, which sold for US$25.6 million in 2014;
- ‘Cullinan Dream,’ a 122-carat rough blue diamond, which sold for US$25.3 million in 2016;
- ‘Legacy of the Cullinan Diamond Mine, a 424-carat rough white diamond, which sold for just under US$15 millionin May 2019;
- a 20.08-carat Type IIb blue diamond, which sold for US$14.9 million($741,000 per carat) in November 2019;
- the ‘Letlapa Tala Collection’ of five blue diamonds (85.6 ctw), which sold as a suite of stones for US$40.36 million in November 2020; and
- an exceptional 299.3-carat Type IIa white gem quality diamond, which was recovered at the mine in January 2021 and sold for US$12.18 million last month.
