[imagesource: Sotheby’s]

That beautiful gem above is the largest vivid blue diamond ever to appear at an auction.

It just sold for a whopping amount on Wednesday evening at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong to an unnamed buyer.

Found by mining magnates De Beers in the Cullinan mine here in South Africa, the 15,1 carat, step-cut beauty was declared sold for the princely sum of Hong Kong $450,9 million.

That’s just shy of a solid R1 billion, tipping the scales at R911 million.

Incredible:

Image: Sotheby’s

Per Bloomberg, bidders had pushed the price to HK$390 million, while auction premiums added the rest.

According to the Gemological Institute of America, blue diamonds are some of the rarest, found at levels four times deeper than most diamonds.

Indeed, blue diamonds are known to break a few records.

Hark back to that rare 39,34-carat type IIb blue diamond found in April last year, also in South Africa’s Cullinan mine. That one sold for around R580 million.

The recent Cullinan Blue sale narrowly missed setting the record for the most expensive blue diamond ever to sell at auction. That title belongs to the 14,62-carat “Oppenheimer Blue” which sold in 2016.

[sources:bloomberg]