At its upcoming Geneva jewelry auction, Christie’s will offer the 23.24-carat “Golconda Blue,” a rare blue diamond with more than 250 years of history and ties to Indian royals.
Geneva—A historic 23.24-carat blue diamond will make its auction debut at Christie’s Geneva jewelry sale next month.
“The Golconda Blue” is the largest fancy vivid blue diamond to ever be offered at auction, Christie’s said.
It is estimated to fetch $35 million to $50 million.
The diamond, set in a ring designed by JAR, will headline the Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale, set to take place May 14 at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva.
JAR designed the ring setting for the Golconda Blue.
The legacy of Golconda diamonds dates back centuries, with the first reference found in a 4th-century Sanskrit manuscript. They were the first diamonds in the world to be discovered, said Christie’s, mined in the historic region of Golconda in southern India, near present-day Hyderabad.
In 327 BC, Alexander the Great brought diamonds from India to Europe, said Christie’s, and by 1292 AD, Marco Polo had written about their beauty while documenting his travels.
The Golconda Blue boasts a provenance rooted in Indian royalty.
Yeshwant Rao Holkar II, the Maharaja of Indore and a member of the Holkar dynasty, was, with his wife Sanyogitabai Devi, known for his modernist tastes and lifestyle of elegance and sophistication in the 1920s and 1930s.
The British-educated ruler was a Knight of the Order of the Indian Empire. He traveled often and developed an affinity for Western art, design, and jewelry.
In 1913, the Maharaja’s father, Tukoji Rao Holkar III, acquired the Indore Pear diamonds from Chaumet—a famed pair of pear-shaped diamonds weighing, at that time, 46.70 and 46.95 carats.
During another visit to the jeweler in 1923, he commissioned a bracelet set with his own 23-carat pear-shaped Golconda blue diamond.
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In 1933, the Mahajara appointed Mauboussin, a French jewelry firm known for its avant-garde designs, as his official jeweler.
Mauboussin reimagined much of the Maharaja's collection, including the Golconda Blue and the Indore Pears, which the jeweler set together into a necklace that was worn by his wife, the Maharani of Indore, memorialized in a portrait by French painter Bernard Boutet de Monvel.
Sanyogitabai Devi of Indore (1914-1937), the Maharani of Indore, wearing the Golconda Blue mounted in an Art Deco Mauboussin sautoir. The portrait is by Bernard Boutet de Monvel (1881-1949).
Yeshwant Rao Holkar II also collaborated with Harry Winston, who bought the Indore Pears from him in 1946.
In 1947, Winston purchased the Golconda Blue diamond and set it in a brooch with a matching 23-carat white diamond, which he sold to the Maharaja of Baroda.
The brooch was subsequently reacquired by Winston and resold as a newly designed jewel to its current owner, Christie’s said.
"Exceptional noble gems of this caliber come to market once in a lifetime. Over the course of its 259-year history, Christie's has had the honor of offering some of the world's most important Golconda diamonds, including the Archduke Joseph, the Princie, and the Wittelsbach,” Rahul Kadakia, Christie's International Head of Jewelry said.
“With its royal heritage, extraordinary color, and exceptional size, The Golconda Blue is truly one of the rarest blue diamonds in the world."
Another rare fancy vivid blue diamond, the 10.03-carat “Mediterranean Blue” will also go up for auction next month, estimated to fetch $20 million at Sotheby’s High Jewelry sale in Geneva.
