Reporting on its New York Magnificent Jewels Sale that took place yesterday, Christie’s has said that the leading lot of the sale, the ‘Cullinan Dream’, a cut-cornered rectangular mixed-cut fancy intense blue diamond, weighing approximately 24.18 carats was bought by an absentee bidder for US$ 25.3 million.

The blue diamond thus becomes yet another fancy coloured diamond that has yielded a high price at an auction over the last few months. A few weeks ago, another spectacular blue diamond, the Oppenheimer Blue was sold for a record $57.5 million in Geneva.

The Cullinan Blue that sold in New York on Thursday was set in a platinum ring and was flanked on either side by a tapered baguette-cut diamond, weighing a total of approximately 2.36 cts. It was inscribed with the words 'Cullinan Dream'. Christie’s said that the stone had a natural colour and VS2 clarity, and had been certified by GIA as a Type IIb diamond.

The ‘Cullinan Dream’ was cut from a 122.52 carat blue diamond rough discovered by Petra Diamonds at South Africa’s Cullinan mine in June 2014. After meticulous analysis to plan the best yield, it was entrusted to a master cutter. The rough yielded four notably sized diamonds: a cushion-cut diamond of approximately 7.00 cts, a radiant-cut diamond of approximately 10.30 cts, a pear-shaped diamond of approximately 11.30 cts, and finally, a cut-cornered rectangular mixed-cut diamond of approximately 24.18 cts.

The Cullinan mine is best known as the site where the world’s largest rough diamond, a 3,106-carat diamond was discovered in 1905. The 530.20 Cullinan I, which is the largest polished white diamond in existence and part of the Crown Jewels housed at the Tower of London, was cut from this rough.