After a global premiere appearance at this year’s Met Gala, the Bulgari Laguna Blu diamond will head to Switzerland to be auctioned at Sotheby’s Geneva Luxury Week.  

For anyone with a spare €23 million and a love of rare and exotic diamonds, Sotheby’s has just the thing. 

Created in 1970, the Bulgari Laguna Blu diamond has been in the same European collection since it was first sold. Now it’s going back on the market and is expected to fetch somewhere in the region of €23 million.  

A MET GALA DEBUT 

The gorgeous pear-shaped piece will have its global premiere on 1st May at the Met Gala before being exhibited and then sold during Sotheby’s Geneva Luxury Week later this month.  

“The Bulgari Laguna Blu diamond is bound to become the object of any collector’s dream and we are delighted that it will be first premiered at the always highly-anticipated Met Gala’s red carpet,” said Olivier Wagner, Head of Jewellery at Sotheby’s Geneva. 

The gem, whose colour is described as a vibrant oceanic blue, is extremely uncommon. Blue diamonds are amongst the rarest of coloured diamonds, no matter what size. To find one as large as this in the Fancy Vivid Blue category is almost unheard of, with only 10 over 10 carats having gone to auction in the past few decades. Of those 10, Sotheby’s sold four.  

“The Bulgari Laguna Blu is an extraordinary gem in every way. At 11.16 carats, this unmodified pear-shaped blue diamond has received the highest grade for a blue diamond by the Gemological Institute of America, acknowledging its mesmerising colour and hue,” added Wagner. “This true wonder of nature was selected by Bulgari, the prestigious Roman Jewellery Maison, over 50 years ago, to create a ring for a discerning private collector who has kept it ever since.”  

ONLY ONE OWNER 

As it never left the original owners, it has only ever been seen in real life by a handful of people. It was created before modern gem cutting technology, giving it that special touch only hand-cut jewels own.  

A few other rarities up for grabs at Sotheby’s Geneva Luxury Week are a beautiful white pear-shaped diamond weighing 12.08 carats and a magnificent a step-cut diamond weighing 18.78 carats. They are expected to go for €544,000 to €635,000 and €815,000 to €1.27 million respectively. 

The Laguna Blu and the other pieces will be exhibited at the Mandarin Oriental Geneva from 11th May before the auction.  

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Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s