Blue Eyed

By Admin
Aug 05, 2016

Cullinan dream 1_eff_a


The record-breaking run of Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auctions has continued with The Cullinan Dream being one of the most recent items on offer. An exceptional jewel, the Dream is the largest and most expensive fancy intense blue diamond ever to be sold at auction. Taking it name from the Cullinan mine in South Africa – the site where it was first uncovered in 2014 – this 24.18 carat piece was originally part of a larger 122.52 carat blue diamond.


Following its discovery, this massive jewel was meticulously examined by a master cutter in order to determine the best yield. It was the cut into four substantial polished blue diamonds .These comprised a cushion-cut seven-carat diamond, a radiant-cut 10.3 carat diamond, a pear-shaped 11.3 carat diamond and the record breaking rectangular mixed-cut diamond.


According to the Gemological Institute of America, The Cullinan Dream is a fancy intense blue diamond, classified as Type IIB, These are exceedingly rare and account for less than half of one percent of all of the diamonds found in nature.


The Cullinan Dream sold for US$42.2 million. Mark Cullinan, an international jewellery dealer and great grandson of Sir Thomas Cullinan, the discoverer of the Petra’s Cullinan Diamond Mine in 1898, was there to witness the sale.


He commented: “It was a great pleasure to be in New York for this exciting auction and to see the fantastic price achieved by a diamond that has come to represent a new generation of discoveries from the Petra’s Cullinan Diamond Mine.”