Rare diamonds are often sold for whopping numbers. And proof of this is the sale of South Africa’s Petra Diamond that recently fetched a little over $40 million in a sale. Yes, that’s right! The 39.34-carat blue wonder was recovered at its iconic Cullinan mine in April 2021 and is one of its most expensive rough diamonds yet.
The exceptional Type IIb blue diamond was sold to a joint venture between top producer De Beers and Diacore, a trading company owned by the billionaire Steinmetz family. In perspective, it fetched just over $1 million per carat to become the most expensive gem Petra has ever sold.
Commenting on it, Petra’s Chief Executive Richard Duffy, in a statement, said, “This new milestone for Petra follows the sale of the 299 carat Type IIa white diamond in March this year and the five blue diamonds comprising the Letlapa Tala Collection in November 2020.”
The iconic gem was found at the Cullinan mine in South Africa, which was once owned by De Beers. It is famous for both large and blue stones and was also where the world’s biggest diamond (3,106 carats rough gem) was found in 1905.
Earlier in 2015, Petra’s Blue Moon of Josephine diamond, cut from a 29-carat rough blue diamond, was also sold for $48.5 million.
[Via: Mining]
