A Unique Blue Moon Diamond Now on Display at Natural History Museum

Petra Diamond Mine is a birthplace of exceptional world-know diamonds that cause a jaw-dropping effect at any auction they appear: first off, by their unique properties and, second, by their extremely high price tags. Since it would take much time to name all those notable diamonds found in Petra mine, let's focus on two latest blue diamonds that were discovered in South African's mine this year.

Early this year a 29.6-carat fancy vivid blue diamond was found and later sold at a record $25.6 million price to Cora International, the leading supplier and manufacturer of white and colored diamonds in the world. Little time passed after that when another blue diamond made headlines due to its unbelievable huge size — 122.5 carats. Petra again proved its status of the mine that produces giant gems. To give you a vivid illustration of what size that is, it's as big as a wall-nut. Taking into account its blue, it looks like it's priceless. So far the fate of the last is still unknown, while there's a follow-up story of a smaller fancy vivid blue.

Huge Blue Diamond Found at Cullinan

It seems there are no other talks in the diamond sphere but for rare blue diamond that was extracted from Cullinan mine. This is not the color that stirred the noise as far as blue diamonds are found regularly, though it less amount than white or yellow. This is the size of it that caused a wow effect.

The Petra Diamond mine 'gave birth' to a 122.52 carat blue diamond that makes this finding really significant. Petra is known as the worlds source of blue diamonds. Last year they managed to sell a 25.5 carat stone for $16.9 million, so it's hard to image how much this giant will cost. The truth is that blue diamonds are and have always been incredibly rare. Many of big blue stones have an entangled story that even adds to the price. These days jewels of this color are highly sought-after and collectable so there's hardly the sale without any blue diamonds.

Dainty Diamonds of Rare Colors are Expected at Geneva Auction

Such big-name auctions as Sotheby's and Christie's that take place in Hong Kong, New York, Geneva and other places always have some special lots on offer. They are rare pieces of art among which are fancy colored diamonds. Tomorrow some of them – daffodil yellow and sky blue diamonds – are going to shine in Geneva.

Huge Graff Vivid Yellow Diamond weighing 100.09 carats is announced as a star of the event. It was cut by Laurence Graff , the London-based top jeweler. But this is not only the size that gives a stone a status of extremely rare, but a deep daffodil color that is full or life and charm. The experts say this cushion-shaped yellow giant is going to fetch from $15 to $25 million.

Five Most Expensive Diamonds in the World

There are many factors that make diamonds so talked about, like color, size, purity, brilliance, and many more. But this is also the price tag that turns any gem into a legendary jewel. With flawless diamonds the price breaks all limits exceeding tens of millions of dollars. That is why to satisfy everyone's curiosity we offer the list of five most expensive diamonds so far:

1 The Graff Pink, a fancy intense pink diamond, was named after its owner, the diamond dealer Laurence Graff. This is a 24.78-carat round-cornered rectangular step-cut diamond. Evidently the buyer knew the real value of the stone since he overpaid $19 million of the minimal estimated price. The diamond mounted in a ring was expected to fetch between $27 million to $38 million, however Laurence Graff parted with $46 million for the opportunity to be the sole owner of the most expensive single jewel on the planet named after him.

Blue Diamond That is Worth $9.8 Million

Diamond experts never stop speaking about rarity of fancy colored diamonds. Blues are sure among the most deficient diamonds, that is why when the record price is concerned they are on the top of the list. However, a large number of zeros in a price tag is not a stumbling block for celebrities who like to dazzle their fancy colored diamond jewelry in the limelight. This time the blue diamond jewel that is offered for sale is going to fetch $9.8 million.

Fancy Deep Blue Record Holder

 

Theaters and Art galleries are not the only places to enrich and inspire you. Sotheby's Auction is the place where you can see most rare things you can't find even in a museum and this is also the place where records are fixed! This time we are to speak about blue diamond jewelry.

Fancy deep blue diamond was sold at Magnificent Jewels in Geneva this month for a record price - $10,860,146. This is a briolette 10.48-carat diamond, flawless by nature and 'unsullied' by other colors, it set a record price per carat for fancy blue diamond - $1.04 million. This blue beauty is characterized by perfect symmetry and polish. According to Gemological Institute of America (GIA), it acquired the highest possible grade.

Actually it was not the only diamond generously sold during the auction. Moreover, this auction featured 'the finest offering of colored gems in 20 years'! Among them were sapphires, emeralds and rubies of highest quality, but this fancy deep blue diamond and a pair to ruby earrings attracted most biddings.

Most Expensive Blue Diamond Sold By Petra Diamond Ltd.

Petra Diamond Ltd known by its largest Cullinan diamond (507 carats) ever mined in the world, added yet another record to its list of attainments by selling a 4.8-carat blue diamond for a record price ever offered for a raw stone – $1.45 million.

As you may already be aware, blue diamonds are very rear due to the process of their formation. Blue diamonds are not that large as white or yellow and the largest representative of blues is the world-known The Hope Diamond (45.52 carats), which has been recently seen in a new sophisticated embrace. But a record-holder among blue diamonds is a smaller gem of just 7.03 carats in size, which has been sold for an awful great sum of money - $9.49 million, making $1.3 million per carat.

Such high price tags for fancy colored diamonds are determined mostly by their scarcity in number, size and of course due to high demand. Indeed, whatever the price is the celebrities are always ready to freely spare money just to cater for their whims.

But as far as this blog is dedicated to man made diamonds, we are revolving around reasonably priced (yet not very cheap) alternative for mined diamond – these are man made diamonds. They can be of any color including blue, but not of any size so far. If you like diamonds and blue stone is your dream but the only obstacle on your way to buying it is its high price, then you can view lab grown diamonds as an option that can make your dream come true. With lifetime guarantee and pay back, with GIA certificate confirming the 'realness' of man made diamonds, you can be sure your diamond is real.

Why So Blue: the Origin of Blue Diamonds

There has been a range of posts devoted to blues, but we tried to concentrate on certain diamonds gem and jewel, while a little was said about their origin. So, now let's have a closer look at blue diamonds, their origin, price,colors and mounting.

Historically, the majority of blue diamonds have been mined in India, however lately blue and grey-blue diamonds are found in Australian and South Africa. The Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa is the only significant mine in the world where blues are found in plenty. Well, the word 'plenty' correlating to diamond number does not necessarily stand for a large number, as only a couple of blue diamonds are qualified by GIA and can be used in fine jewelry.

Diamond is pure carbon, but there can be some 'impurities' that give color to a gem. In case of blue diamonds, this is boron that is responsible for blue shades: from light sky blue to deep greyish blue. There is a common mistake to think that all blue diamonds are like the famous Hope Diamond. The thing is that the majority of all blue diamonds are lighter than the Hope Diamond. To differentiate the colors there is a gradation scale for blues: fancy light, fancy, intense, deep, and vivid. Though a subtle difference between fancy and intense colors, but it has significant affect on a price! Say, one carat of light blue diamond may cost $30,000-70,000 while intense can go for $100,000-250,000 per carat. Collectors and most exclusive dealers should pay from $250,000 to $500,000 per carat of vivid blue diamond, mind that fact that large diamonds can cost much expensive.

Color and size are not the only factors that determine the high price, there is also a color combination that significantly skyrockets the price. There are blue diamonds that exhibit green color, the one resembling the Caribbean ocean waters. Of course, such greenish blues feature really high price tags, so that only a few true diamond lovers can afford to purchase them. Grey can also be a secondary color in blue diamonds. It gives unique steel blue color as well as affects the price.

What is more, there is a thing that significantly influences the perception of any blue diamond – it is the mounting. The latter can be compared to the a framed picture, where a frame makes the painting. The visual perception of the blue diamond is determined by the mounting it is set in, say the same blue diamond can have different play of color when it is mounted in a prong or bezel setting. Also, you can choose to contrast your blue diamond with other colored diamonds to emphasize its color value. Anyway, it is better to ask a competent jeweler for advice, so that he could offer you the best setting to bring out the unique color of your blue diamond.

Pink & Blue Diamond Pendant and Not Only...

It seems blue diamonds are hot at auctions, neither dear price nor economic instability in the world or other factors can't prevent true connoisseurs of blue diamonds from spending millions of dollars at auctions in order to become a honorable owner of a rare gem.

There are not only diamonds that set records by their jaw-dropping price tags, but there is also Christie's New York Jewels Sale that broke the record and put up four blue diamonds to auction on June 11, 2009. Actually, flawless blue diamonds are few in the world. According to Rahul Kadakia, a head of jewelry for Christie's in New York, there is only a small number of blues at auctions worldwide per year, say in 7,000-8,000 lots there can be only one or two blue diamonds. However, the previous year was the exception.

The showstopper of Christie's auction was pink & blue diamond necklace. Two fancy intense blue diamonds of 5.01 and 2.03 carats serve a perfect addition to a fancy vivid pink 3.01-carat diamond. Blue diamonds are of beautiful pear shape, while pink one is of hexagonal cut.

Another rare lot was an unset pare-shaped 6.29 fancy vivid blue stone. This one managed to go for $3.6 million, what is $565,000 per carat. Also there was a stunning white & blue rectangular-cut diamond ring. It was estimated at $250,000-350,000, but was sold for $2,675,000, making $753,000 per carat for the blue diamond.

Blue diamonds get their color from the introduction of boron atoms in the structure of diamond crystal during the period of diamond formation. That is why blue diamonds, and especially fancy vivid blues, are too rare to be mined.

Dazzling Price for a Rare Blue Diamond Ring

Though blue diamonds take the second place in the list of most rare diamonds after pink ones, they are quite expensive being sold for record prices at auctions. This year flawless sky-blue diamond was featured at Sotheby's Hong Kong, where it was expected to take between $4.6 million and $5.8 million.

Actually, the sale price fell short of expectations. It was higher than intended! The ring went for unbelievable $6.4 million on April 7. This diamond — fancy vivid blue — was the first diamond from De Beers millennium collection that entered the auction. The full collection of most rare diamonds were presented by De Beers in 2000 for celebration of a new millennium. Each gem was laser-inscribed and this blue got its inscription either. “De Beers Millennium Jewel 11” denotes this gem is one of the best in the world. Real diamond lovers known that fancy vivid is the highest color rating for diamonds and there are only few diamonds in the world graded as fancy vivid.

Speaking about De Beers collection, there were 9! blue diamonds rated as fancy vivid and this one was among of them. Pear-shaped sky blue gem is surrounded by two smaller white diamonds and set in a platinum ring.

This blue diamond came from Premier Diamond Mine of Transvaal, South Africa. Actually, most of blue diamonds are mined here, but on average only one blue diamond among all of those mined for the whole year appears to be a real jewel.

An Embrace for the Hope Diamond

If you have at least a little interest in diamonds you should have heard about one of the most renowned of them – the Hope Diamond. This is a large (45.52 carats) fancy deep greyish-blue diamond, which is currently a precious property of the Smithsonian National History Museum in Washington.

This gem is known not only for its rare blue color and large size, but for its legendary history and honorable owners. King Louise XV, Marie Antoinette and her husband King Louis XVI, King Georg IV and other nobles were the royal proprietors of the Hope Diamond. Overall, the diamond passed through many hands till it was purchased by Mr. Winston, an outstanding American jeweler. After being an owner of the Hope Diamond for a decade, Harry Winston donated a rare blue gem to the aforementioned museum. Since then it attracts millions of visitors every year seeking to enjoy its beauty and rarity.

Until this year the Hope diamond remained in its, so to say, traditional setting, the one it was donated to the museum – a pendant surrounded by a number of little white diamonds. However, for the whole period of its history this diamond regularly changed the settings, being preferably a part of a crown jewel. But this year it got a new 'embrace' setting in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Harry Winston's donation.

The jaw-dropping necklace with the Hope Diamond inside made public on November 18, 2010. The setting for “Embracing Hope” was designed and handcrafted in the Harry Winston studio by eight professional jewelers, who spent more than 1000 to produce this masterpiece. The necklace is a sculptural diamond ribbon featuring 340 baguette white diamonds set in platinum. The Hope Diamond is suspended in 'embrace' resembling a gem being held in the palms. Actually, there were three other designs of the necklace but this one was selected by popular vote in online polling a year before.

A Record-holder Among Blue Diamonds

What are the most expensive things in the world? Those that are rare to be found, and blue diamonds are just the things.

In May 2009 a rare blue diamond set a record price at Sotheby's auction in Geneva. A magnificent fancy vivid blue diamond gem of 7.03 carat in size was sold in 15 minutes for $9.49 million — the highest price ever paid per carat. A short bidding battle was just a proof that there are diamond lovers for whom the economic downturn is not an obstacle and they are ready to pay a high price to become an honorable owner of a rare sought-after gem.

The previous record was set by a blue stone two years before, in 2007. At that time 6.04 flawless vivid blue diamond was sold for a cool $7.9 million, thus it delivered $1.3 million per carat.

Such a high price for blue diamonds is determined by their paucity in number. Blues are most rare after reds and there are only a handful of them mined in a year, flawless vivid blue are a great luck to be found at all. This fact makes the gems so longed-for and skyrockets their price basically due to their rarity.

Halle Berry Wearing Blue Diamonds

It's become a norm already to see fabulous starts on the Red Carpets wearing jaw-dropping diamond jewelry
. They are known to set fashion trends not only for evening outfits but for accessories and fine jewelry as well. And blue diamonds had their chance to be shown off either.

Halle Berry, a beauty queen born to become a stunning actress, was a true beautification of the 60th Golden Globe ceremony. Wearing an ice blue dress, the actress picked up a set of blue and white diamonds to emphasize her gown. Breathtaking 30 carat pear-shaped diamond pendant seemed to possess magnetism as it couldn't but drew attention of the guests. A pendant was coupled with a pair of beautiful blue diamond earrings total approximately 26 carat. The creator of this amazing jewelry set is Harry Winston, who once again proved to be a 'jeweler to the stars'.

Of course, the price for such kind of jewelry is astronomical - $5 million.

Rare Blue Diamond Ring Made a Noise in the Jewelry Market

Unbelievable how an occurrence of such a little thing on a jewelry market can cause a huge sensation. Blue diamonds gained the reputation of rare and sought-after gems due to their paucity in number, so this ring was initially doomed to extreme popularity.

This diamond ring is unique by its design and combination of gems: blue and white triangular-shaped diamonds are of the same size and cut, they are like twins but of different colors. It seems they were cut to match each other. Both gems are united on a golden band. Total amount of diamonds is 10.95 carats, what makes this ring the largest blue diamond ring that ever hit the jewelry market.

A bit of history: this stunning ring was a precious present given to a wife of Roman Bulgari, a known Italian jeweler, on the occasion of her giving birth to their first baby-son. Some say this Burgari ring denotes a symbolic meaning: it aims to show a true and inseparable love of a mother and a son. Frankly speaking, it will perfectly denote an everlasting love between a husband and a wife either.

Predictable, the price for such piece of art is going to be rather high. The ring is estimated at $15 million, it's about $1.5 million per carat.

Hello, Wittelsbach-Graff: Exhibit on Display at AMNH

Wittelsbach-Graff is the most expensive diamond in the world which is currently can be seen in the American Museum of Natural History.

First, it's special because of its deep blue color so rare for diamonds. The color determined the high price of 31.06-carat diamond gem - in 2008 the Wittelsbach diamond was sold for record $24.3 million. It was renamed after its new owner Lawrence Graff, a known English jeweller. Though the diamond was considered to be flawless, Graff cut this diamond to remove flaws. As a result, the original Wittlsbach lost more than 4 carats in weight and its owner was criticized for altering the historic diamond gem.

Second, this diamond has very long history. Its first appearance in Europe dates from the 17th century. Then the blue gem belonged to King Philip IV of Spain. After that it changed hands, mostly royal ones, while at last Charles Albert, a member of Wittelsbach dynasty, became in possession of the rare fancy blue diamond. The most interesting thing is that each owner of the Wittelsbach diamond preferred to wear it in various settings - each owner to his taste.

Third, it is one of few diamonds that came from India and became the royal jewels. It is rumoured, the Wittelsbach diamond was cut from the same initial stone as the world known Hope Diamond was cut. Probably this helped to draw additional attention to Wittelsbach-Graff diamond. Anyway, this unique and currently the most expensive blue diamond in the world can be ogled by the visitors of museum till January 2nd, 2011. And those who want to have fancy blue diamond for affordable price follow this link.

$6.4 million for rare blue diamond! It's not the record yet

Have you heard the news:
 Rare flawless blue diamond from De Beers Millenium Collection was auctioned in Hong Kong and sold for $6.4 million. The 5.16 carat diamond exceeded the estimated price. Sotheby's priced the pear-shaped gem between $4.6 and $5.8 million.
 This year Sotheby's auction took place in Hong Kong, in a country which did not suffer from economical crisis as much as the rest of the world. Sotherby's thought that luxuries are still in high demand in this country, as at the end of 2009 the vivid pink 5 carat diamond ring was sold there for $10.8 million.
 On May 2009 the unique blue 7 carat diamond was auctioned in Geneva in 2009 and sold for $9.5 million. However, another blue holds the absolute record. Before it belonged to the known German dynasty - Wittelsbach. In 2008 greyish blue diamond was sold for $24 million! 

Unbelievable price, don't you think? And it would seem unreal to have any jewelry with blue diamond but for high pressure high temperature technology. The latter made possible to create rare blue gems in the laboratory. New Age Diamonds - is a world-know manufacture of fancy color real diamonds.


Price 
Diamonds grown in the laboratory conditions are cheaper than mined diamonds, and concerning colored diamonds - they are much cheaper. However, don't think they are dirt-cheap. The technology for growing diamonds is very complicated, that is why the production cost is not as low. These factors keeps the value high and number of created diamonds low. The price depends on color, clarity, weight and cut. For instance, yellow diamonds are cheaper than green ones, and greens are cheaper than blues. Usually, one carat of lab-grown diamond starts from $4000 to $6000 and it grown proportionally! This is one (among many) of the main advantages of created diamonds. It means, if 1 carat of blue diamond costs $6000 (again, it depends on the clarity and cut), then you will have to pay about $31.000 (not millions) for 5.16 carat of blue gem. You see, it much cheaper than the same stone but of natural diamond.

Quality
What do you expect from diamond? Solidity? Unique fire? Or you want it to serve you all your life without loosing its color? Created diamonds the same as natural stones are grown to meet your expectations. Modern technology allows to reproduce all the properties of natural diamond crystals and to create the same real diamonds in the laboratory. The only difference you will have - the age of your stone. It took thousands of years for mined diamonds to be formed under the ground, then it took huge efforts and costs to extract them from volcanic ore. That is why they are so expensive. As the name suggests, created diamonds are grown by man in the laboratory. It took only several days to create real diamond.

As you see, you can also enjoy the beauty of rare blue diamond without spending millions of dollars to make your dream come true. Shine blue with created blue diamonds!

Read more about Famous Blue Diamonds in our blog.

15 Most Famous Blue Diamonds of All Time

Blue diamonds are ranging from pale blue to delicate "rosy blue" and deep hue shades, all of them are unique and fascinating. Blues have always drawn the attention of jewelry fans, for whom price was not the obstacle. That is why six out of ten most expensive diamonds of the world are blue diamonds. The amount of natural blue diamonds is even less than 0.1% of all mined diamonds. Here is the list of most known and expensive blue diamonds of all times:

1. The Hope Diamond
Is the most famous blue diamond in the world. It is of unique steel blue color and weights 45.52 carats. This blue diamond is also known as "cursed diamond" as it always brought only bad luck to its owners: King Louis XIV of France, consort of King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Evelyn Walsh McLean, an American aristocrat, and Lord Francis Hope - the owner after whom the diamond took its name. The history of the Hope is cloaked in mystery. The legend says this gem was stolen from the statue of Sita in India. For long time the Hope was called the "Tavernier Blue" after the name of its first customer Jean Baptiste Tavernie, who brought crudely cut triangular diamond from India to Europe and described it as "beautiful violet". Since that time The Hope has had a lot of owners and currently is on display in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian Institute. This blue diamond is valued between $200,000 (an approximate price it was sold for last time) and $250,000,000.

2. The Wittelsbach Diamond

Is often compared to the Hope by its perfect clarity. A cushion-shaped gem of 35.56 carats is also in display at the Smithsonian Institute. Before the Wittelsbach diamond came to the United Stated, it had been handed down through generations of German royalty. The unique blue is known for its record — it was sold for record $24.3 million at auction in London in 2008 — the most ever paid amount for the diamond. Early the third largest blue diamond belonged to King Philip IV of Spain, King Leopold I of Austria and was handed down to his granddaughter Maria Amalia. She then married the Bavarian Crown Prince Charles Albert, a member of Wittelsbach dynasty, after whom the gemstone was named in a while. During its history blue diamond changed its settings rather often, with each elector mostly. Once it was set in a loop-shaped brooch and surrounded by 700 more diamonds of different sizes.

3. The Idol's Eye
History is cloaked in mystery. The legend says the diamond was the eye of an idol or statue in the temple in Benghazi. However, there is no evidence about its "mate", the second eye. The 70.21-carat slight bluish diamond is characterized by unusual cut and shape: something between an Old Mine cut and a triangular shape. The Idol's Eye possesses 9 facets instead of traditional 8. Also, there are many non-symmetrical facets scattered around the stone; this gives the Idol's Eye additional dazzling fire. The first "public" appearance of The Idol's Eye was in 1865 at Christie's sale in London. There The Idol's Eye was set in a pendant and surrounded by 18 small diamonds. Abdul Hamid II could not resist buying this pricey jewelry, as a result he became a new owner of the Idol's Eye. Actually, this diamond was possessed by many owners including unknown Spanish nobleman, a Dutch dealer, Harry Winston, Mrs. May Bonfils Stanton and Harry Levinson. The exact value of the Idol's Eye is unknown, however in 1973 Mr.Levinson wanted to sell the blue for $1,100,000 at auction in New York.

4. Koh-I-Noor
Is already a household name used all over the world. There is a saying used to describe the Koh-I-Noor diamond: "Whoever owned it, ruled the world". The Koh-I-Noor diamond is considered to be the most famous one, probably due to its unusual name which means "Mountain of Light" in Persian. The name was given occasionally: when the Persian ruler Nadir Shah unfolded the turban he cheated from Mohammed, the first words he exclaimed when seeing the blue stone were "Koh-I-Noor". Some say, this diamond has never been sold or bought, it took lives of people for its price. Indeed, the Indian and Persian rulers fought for it for a long time. The Koh-I-Noor was the largest cut diamond ever — it was 186-carat cut diamond. However, Prince Albert cut it to 105.602-carat size to increase the gem's brilliance, clarity and fire which it lacked. Unfortunately, cutting did not come up to expectations. Currently this blue giant is set into the Crown and was worn by the Queens of England. It belongs to Collection of Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.

5. The Orlov Diamond
History is somehow connected with the Idol's Eye. As a legend says, initially it was an eye of an idol in the Temple of Srirangam. The idol was behind the seven secured walls and only some trustworthy religious people were allowed to worship it. Despite the security, the diamond was stolen. The thief was a Frenchman converted to Hinduism who gained trust and was allowed to worship the statue. Many people think, the Koh-I-Noor diamond was the second eye as both of the diamonds seem to be cut out of the same rough stone. The Orlov diamond is of unusual shape: it resembles an egg cut in a half. The blue-green diamond retains its original cut known as Indian Rose and measures 189.62 carats. The Russian empress Catherine the Great named this blue diamond in honor of a giver — Count Grigory Grigorievich Orlov. The stone was set in the Imperial Sceptre, where it still remains. At that time The Orlov cost 400,000 rubles, an extremely huge price.

6. The Cullinan I or the Star of Africa Diamond
Weights 530.20 carats. Till 1985 it was the largest ever known polished diamond until the Golden Jubilee was found. It is the largest stone cut from the Cullinan Diamond that is why it is called Cullinan I. Overall, the Cullinan Diamond, found in South Africa, was cut into 9 large stones and 96 small ones. All nine big gems including the pear-shaped Star of Africa went separate ways, but now all of them are a part of the Crown Jewels of the Tower of London. The 76-facets blue diamond is usually set in the Royal Scepter, however sometimes it is removed and worn as a pendant.

7. The Petra Blue Diamond
Is relatively young and can't boast to have mysterious legend of its origin, however it is in the list of most famous diamonds. It was mined in famed Cullinan mine by Petra in South Africa in 2008. It is described as fancy vivid blue diamond which was cut from 26.58 carat rough stone to 7.03 carat unique gem. The stone has never been worn yet that means the first owner still has an honor to name this flawless blue. In 2009 rare blue gem was sold at Sotheby's auction in Geneva. The blue-hued gem took a record price of $9.5 million though it was expected to be sold for $8.5 million. According to Sotheby's this is the largest price per carat of blue diamond. By the way, the Petra Blue was given the highest grade of GIA for its internally flawless clarity.

8. The Heart of Eternity Diamond
As expected is of a heart shape. It is one of the most famous diamonds of the world. As the majority of fancy colored diamonds, this blue diamond was mined in South Africa. The size of the gem is 27.64 carats and it is described as fancy vivid blue diamond. Initially the Heart of Eternity belonged to DeBeers collection, but later is was sold to a private collector. The Heart of Eternity was among the diamonds displayed at the exhibition on the occasion of millennium 2000. For this case it was taken as a loan from its owner. The Heart of Eternity was cut from a large rough stone of 777 carats in size. Overall, three gems were cut from it, the largest is The Millennium Star Diamond.

9. The Millennium Star Diamond
Was honored to mark the year 2000. Blue pear-shaped diamond weights 204.04 carats. Millennium Star is certified to have D-flawless and most perfect proportions. This blue stone was mined in 1990 in Zaire. DeBeers became its first owner and spent three years to cut the rough stone into a perfect gem. As a result, the blue gem with 54 facets had its debut appearance in London in 1999. The following year the Millennium Star appeared in the Millennium Dome in London. This blue diamond stood out among other gems and it's no wonder that thieves were trying to steal it, however they failed. As for the value, we may only guess how much the Millennium Star might cost. Judging from the auctions, the price for 1 carat of blue D-flawless diamond ranges from $550,000 to $580,000, however some experts claim it will be higher when speaking about the Millennium Star.

10. The Excelsior Diamond
Was the biggest rough stone in its time. The blue-white stone was mined in Africa and weighted 995.2 carats. It got the name Excelsior after its unusual shape: it was flat on one side and protuberant on the other. So, it nicknamed for having such a peak and the word Excelsior means "higher". It was decided to cut this huge light blue stone into pieces. The biggest stone weighted 158 carats, the next one 147 and the third biggest stone was 130 carats. The rest part of the rough stone was cleaved in smaller gems from 70 to less than 1 carat. All the gems — there are 11 of them — are called Excelsiors but with the numbers: Excelsior I is the largest, it is followed by the Excelsior II and so on. All the stones were sold separately: three of them were bought by Tiffany & Co, some were presumably purchased by DeBeers.

11. The Tereschenko Diamond
Belongs to the group of Type IIb diamonds, which are very rare in nature. There is no source where is was mined in, however experts assume it was found in India and come from Kollur deposits. The Tereschenko blue was the one to appear unexpectedly. In 1984 Christie's announced they had fancy blue diamond cut in a shape of a pear, and they were going to auction it. Before 42.92-carat diamond belonged to Russian family of sugar barons — Tereschenko. When Russian revolution began it was smuggled from the country, and then nothing was heard about it until 1984. During auction the bidding exceeded all Christie's expectations just in 40 seconds. After all, Saudi diamond dealer Robert Mouawad purchased the Tereschenko diamond for $4.5 million. Currently this blue dazzling gem holds the name "The Mouawad Blue".

12. The Sultan of Morocco Diamond
Is the forth largest blue diamond after the Hope Diamond (45.52 carats), The Tereschenko (42.92 carats) and the Wittelsbach (35.56 carats). Classified as fancy grayish-blue, the Sultan of Morocco weights 35.27 carats. It is cut in a cushion shape and belongs to the type IIb diamonds, most rare ones. Some believe, this blue gem had been in possession of Sultans in Morocco, however this fact had not been proved as it was impossible to discover the names of diamond's owners. Moreover, most likely it comes from Southern India. One thing that is true is that in 1840 the Sultan of Morocco belonged to Yousupov family, a known noble Russian family. In 1922 the Sultan of Morocco was sold to Cartier in New York by Prince Felix Yousoupov II. In 1972 rare blue was purchased by a private American collector, the price was said to be $250,000.

13. The Blue Heart Diamond
Comes after the Sultan of Morocco in size. The Blue heart weights 30.82 carats and is described as fancy intense blue, the same as the Wittelsbach. The deep blue gem was cut in a heart-shape by a Paris diamond cutter. Since 1910 the Blue Heart was sold five times until its last owner Mrs. Post donated this unique diamond to the Smithsonian Institute where it can be found now. During its dynamic history the Blue Heart has changed its settings: it was set in a ring and surrounded by 25 small white diamonds, then in a lily-of-the-valley corsage, then it was worn as a pendant to a necklace, then again it was mounted in a ring. The precise value of this unique heart-shaped gem is unknown, but we know that in 1950s it was sold by Van Cleef & Arpels for $300,000. Surely, the price would be much higher today.

14. The Blue Empress
Is mounted in one of the most rare and probably expensive necklace in the world. The necklace with rare blue pear-shaped diamond is valued around $16 million! It is made of 18K gold and precious blue is surrounded by a number of little white diamonds. This incredible necklace was designed by a know jewelry designer Christian Tse. The name Empress is used to emphasize the excellent quality of this blue. This diamond weights 14 carats and by its size it holds the 8th place in the list of know blue diamonds. However, its clarity grade and color are still unknown. Moreover, it seems diamond's owner Harrods department store in London does not want to reveal any information about their possessions including the Blue Empress. In 2003 a football star David Beckham wanted to buy this dazzling necklace for his wife Victoria.

15. The Blue Magic Diamond
Possesses unbelievable fancy blue color and VVS2 clarity. 12.02-carat gem is mounted in 18k white gold ring. The Blue Magic refers to the group of elite blues as it is classified as vivid blue by the Gemological Institute of America. Actually, there is a tiny part of natural blue diamonds found in nature, and the lesser part of them are classified as vivid. Thus, vivid blue diamonds are extremely pricey, nevertheless jewelry collectors hold them on the top of the list of most sought after diamonds. Most likely the Blue Magic, the same as the Tereschenko and the Hope Diamond, was mined in India, in Hyderabad state. For some time the Blue Magic was in possession of the King Louis XIV, it held the name the French Blue. Cristie's valued the Blue Magic between $5,000,000 and $6,000,000. Currently, one of the most rare blue diamonds belongs to a private collector.

Conclusion
Blue diamonds belong to the group of colored gemstones, which popularity has recently started to grow among jewelry lovers. Despite the fact that colored diamonds contain chemical impurities they are the most sought after gems today. Impurities in this case make diamonds unique as they are responsible for coloring. Speaking about blue diamonds, this is boron element which is bond with carbon and makes diamonds shine blue. Actually, a number of elements that infiltrate diamonds and change their color is limited, that is why flawless colored diamonds are extremely rare in nature. Such rarity determines the price — usually high price.