The 23-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, set to headline Christie’s May jewelry auction, was expected to sell for as much as $50 million.
De Beers’ Sales Remain Below Last Year
The diamond miner and marketer sold $530 million in rough diamonds in its fifth sales cycle of the year, down 6 percent when compared with the same period last year.

Gaborone, Botswana--De Beers reported that rough diamond sales totaled $530 million in its fifth sales cycle of the year.
That is 6 percent below the $564 million realized from both sightholder and auction sales in the same period last year, and it marks the fourth sales cycle in a row in which De Beers’ year-over-year sales were down.
The diamond miner and marketer also revised its results for the fourth sales cycle of the year upward, from $520 million to $522 million.
Here’s a look a De Beers’ rough diamond sales so far this year.
Next week, De Beers will hold its first sale of other companies’ “exceptional” polished diamonds on its auction platform.
The company said all stones included in the sale will be more than 2 1/2 carats or of fancy color and will have been confirmed as being natural and untreated by De Beers’ lab, the International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research.
About 50 polished diamonds will be available at this first auction, including a 7.21-carat D flawless pear-shaped diamond, a 20.64-carat VS2 cushion-cut fancy light yellow diamond, and a 1.57-carat internally flawless fancy vivid yellow diamond.
That sale will take place on the same day of the first auctions of De Beers’ polished diamonds, which are cut from its own rough by an independent third party.
De Beers said the auctions will be held back-to-back.
All sellers must be registered and comply with De Beers Auction Sales Diamond Trading Standard while purchasing is open only to registered buyers.
For information on how to register as a buyer for De Beers auctions, visit DeBeersGroup.com/auctionsales.
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