Blue Moon of Josephine

The Blue Moon of Josephine is a 12.03 carats (2.406 g) blue diamond, described as flawless by experts, that was discovered in South Africa in January 2014 and was sold at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva in November 2015 at a record-setting price of $48.4 million (43.2 million Swiss francs plus fees).[1] The diamond is the largest cushion-shaped blue stone classified as "fancy vivid" ever to appear at auction.[2]

Blue Moon of Josephine
Weight12.03 carats (2.406 g)
ColorFancy Vivid Blue
CutCushion-Shaped
OwnerJoseph Lau
Estimated valueUS $48.4 million

The "Blue Moon" sale, according to David Bennett, the head of Sotheby's international jewellery division, set a record for the highest-ever price per carat and it made the diamond both the most expensive jewel ever sold at auction and the world's most expensive diamond, regardless of color.[1][2]

The diamond was bought by the Hong Kong billionaire, and fugitive convicted felon, Joseph Lau Luen-hung, who named it for his seven-year-old daughter, Josephine. On the day before the "Blue Moon" sale, Lau had purchased a 16.08 carats (3.216 g) pink diamond at a Christie's auction for $28.5 million, a record price for a jewel of its kind, and renamed it the "Sweet Josephine" diamond.[3] In 2009, Lau bought another blue diamond for $9.5 million that he renamed the "Star of Josephine".[2] The seller was Ehud Arye Laniado, a diamond trader.[4]

The diamond exhibits red phosphorescence when observed under ultraviolet light.[5]

See also

Further reading
  • Eloïse Gaillou, Jeffrey E. Post, Keal S. Byrne, and James E. Butler (2014) STUDY OF THE BLUE MOON DIAMOND, pp.  280-286 (PDF pp.  33-39). Gemological Institute of America, USA, Vol. 50, No. 4 (Winter 2014)

References
  1. "Billionaire buys Blue Moon diamond for 9 year daughter for record $68m". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  2. "Billionaire buys 7-year-old daughter Blue Moon diamond for record $48m". The Guardian. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  3. "The Sweet Josephine: rare pink diamond sold in Geneva auction". The Guardian. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  4. Daniel Sugarman (8 March 2018). "Belgian-Israeli billionaire Ehud Arye Laniado dies during penis enlargement surgery". The JC. Retrieved 10 March 2019. In 2015, he sold the world's most expensive diamond, the Blue Moon of Josephine, to a Hong Kong billionaire and convicted felon, Joseph Lau Luen Hung
  5. "7-year old may own a Blue Diamond worth $48.46 Million!". Jewelove. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
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