Notable and Record-Setting Fancy Colored Diamonds Sold at Auction

Some photos from Christie's 1998 review:



Photo #1: A ring containing a heart-shaped Fancy Blue diamond weighing 6.69 carats, sold for $328,000.
Photo #6: A ring containing a Fancy Dark Blueish-Gray diamond and a Fancy Brownish-Pink, $750,000
Photo #7: A ring containing a pair of matching Fancy Blue diamonds, $684,500.
Photo #5: A ring containing an emerald cut Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond weighing 13.98 carats, $893,500.
Photo #4: An oval-cut Fancy Vivid Yellowish-Green diamond of 1.75 carats, small and enlarged view, $316,500.


A diamond flower brooch containing numerous blue and white diamonds, plus one yellow, in a number of shapes: Marquise, emerald, pear, baguette and radiant. The piece was created by Bulgari and sold for $1,182,000 on May 28th, 1998, a record price for a piece of jewelry sold in Italy, also auctioned at Christie's.

A Sampling of Fancy Colored Diamonds Sold At Auction
Color, Size, Clarity, Shape or Cut, Auction House, $/carat, total $

Fancy Yellow, 2.45 carats, VS1, square, Sotheby's, $5051/carat, $12,375
Fancy Yellow, 2.48 carats, VS1, square, Sotheby's, $5051/carat, $12,526
Fancy Yellow, 10.06 carats, VS2, round, Christie's, $5256/carat, $52,875
Fancy Yellow, 3.54 carats, VS2, marquise, Christie's, $6306/carat, $22,323
Fancy Intense Yellow, 1.93 carats, VS2, rectangular, Christie's, $7915/carat, $15,276
Fancy Intense Yellow, 4.63 carats, SI2, oval, Christie's, $9644/carat, $44,652
Fancy Intense Yellow, 16.43 carats, VVS2, square, Christies, $10,408/carat, $171,003
Fancy Intense Yellow, 7.22 carats, VS1, rectangular, Sotheby's, $10,457/carat, $75,500
Fancy Deep Grayish Greenish Yellow, 3.88 carats, n/a, emerald, Sotheby's, $10,567/carat, $41,000
Fancy Vivid Orangey-Yellow, 5.47 carats, n/a, cushion, Sotheby's, $18,439/carat, $100,861
Fancy Vivid Orangey-Yellow, 5.58 carats, n/a, cushion, Sotheby's, $18,439/carat, $102,890
Fancy Light Green, 6.20 carats, VS1, old mine, Christie's, $18,710/carat, $116,002
Fancy Brownish Orangey-Pink, 9.51 carats, VVS2, oval, Christie's, $23,764/carat, $225,996
Fancy Vivid Yellow-Orange, 3.56 carats, SI1, rectangular, Christie's, $32,584/carat, $115,999
Fancy Vivid Yellow, 4.18 carats, Internally Flawless, rectangular, Christie's, $64,593/carat, $269,999
Fancy Intense Green-Blue, 0.93 carats, n/a, pear, Christie's, $101,075/carat, $94,000
Fancy Deep Blue, 5.02 carats, Internally Flawless, marquise, Christie's, $176,494/carat, $886,000
Fancy Purplish-Red, 0.41 carats, n/a, round, Christie's, $229,268/carat, $94,000
Fancy Red, 1.92 carats, VS2, rectangular (radiant), Phillips, $781,250/carat, $1,500,000
Fancy Deep Blue, 10.48 carats, n/a, briolette, Phillips, $257,633/carat, $2,700,000
Fancy Intense Yellow, 30.14 carats, n/a, emerald, Butterfield's, $8626/carat, $260,000(?)
Fancy Vivid Yellow, 6.31 carats, n/a, pear, Weschler's, $36,806/carat, $232,250

Source: The Diamond Ring Buying Guide by Renée Newman, G.G.

Highest Per-Carat Prices Paid At Auction for Diamonds With Different Natural Colors
Color, Weight, Shape or Cut, Auction Date, $/carat, total $

•Red•
Fancy Purplish-Red, 0.95 carats, round brilliant, April 1987, $926,315/carat, $880,000 (the Hancock Red Diamond)
Fancy Red, 0.25 carats, oval brilliant, October 1996, $326,000/carat, $81,500

•Orange-Yellow•
Fancy Intense Orange-Yellow, 4.77 carats, rectangular cut, November 1990, $821,803/carat, $3,920,000

•Pink•
Fancy Intense Purplish-Pink, 7.37 carats, emerald cut, November 1995, $819,201/carat, $6,037,511
Fancy Purplish-Pink, 4.92 carats, emerald cut, April 1995, $425,304/carat, $2,092,495

•Green•
Fancy Vivid Green, 0.90 carats, round brilliant, October 1999, $736,111/carat, $662,499
Fancy Yellowish-Green, 3.02 carats, pear brilliant, April 1988, $564,569/carat, $1,704,998

•Blue•
Fancy Deep Blue, 4.37 carats, oval brilliant, November 1995, $568,740/carat, $2,485,393
Fancy Deep Blue, 13.49 carats, emerald cut, April 1995, $554,670/carat, $7,482,498

•Yellow•
Fancy Vivid Yellow, 13.83 carats, antique brilliant, April 1997, $238,792/carat, $3,302,493
Fancy Intense Yellow, 18.49 carats, pear brilliant, June 1990, $203,461/carat, $3,761,993 (the Golden Drop Diamond)

•Orange•
Fancy Vivid Orange, 5.54 carats, cushion modified brilliant, October 1997, $238,718/carat, $1,322,497 (the Pumpkin Diamond)
Fancy Intense Yellow-Orange, 8.93 carats, pear brilliant, May 1988, $211,113/carat, $1,885,239

•Colorless•
D-color, Internally Flawless, 52.59 carats, rectangular cut, April 1988, $142,232/carat, $7,479,980
D-color, Internally Flawless, 101.84 carats, modified pear brilliant, November 1990, $125,294/carat, $12,759,940 (the Mouawad Splendour)

•Purple•
Fancy Reddish-Purple, 0.54 carats, round brilliant, April 1987, $122,222/carat, $66,000
Fancy Purple, 1.04 carats, bullet-shaped step cut, November 1990, $94,240/carat, $98,000

•Brown•
Fancy Orangish-Brown, 8.91 carats, octagonal step cut, April 1987, $9259/carat, $82,497
Fancy Reddish-Brown, 1.14 carats, round brilliant, October 1988, $6754/carat, $7699

•Black•
Fancy Black, 46.53 carats, circular briolette, October 1996, $2418/carat, $112,509
Fancy Black, 67.50 carats, cushion brilliant, December 1990, $1466/carat, $98,955 (the Black Orlov)
Fancy Black, 33.74 carats, modified pear brilliant, November 2001, $10,432/carat, $352,000 (the Amsterdam Diamond)

The above chart is from pages 122 and 123 of Collecting & Classifying Colored Diamonds by Stephen C. Hofer, Jewelry International (December/January 1992/1993), and Christie's auction house, Sotheby's auction house, and The Auction Market Resource by Grail Levine.

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