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The Golconda Blue: The Largest Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond Ever Seen at Auction

Christie’s is preparing to showcase something truly extraordinary — The Golconda Blue, a 23.24 carat Fancy Vivid Blue diamond, set to headline the Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on 14 May. Held at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, this remarkable stone carries an estimate of between $35 million and $50 million.

Mounted in a ring designed by the legendary JAR, The Golconda Blue is not only the largest Fancy Vivid Blue diamond ever offered at auction — it’s also one of the rarest and most historically significant diamonds in existence.

Its journey through history is as dazzling as the stone itself. Originally owned by Yeshwant Rao Holkar, the Maharaja of Indore — a prominent patron of art and fine jewellery in the 1920s and 1930s — the diamond was first set into a bracelet by Chaumet in 1923. A decade later, Mauboussin transformed it into a necklace worn by the Maharani, immortalised in a striking portrait by Bernard Boutet de Monvel.

In 1947, the diamond was acquired by none other than Harry Winston, who later sold it as a brooch to the Maharaja of Baroda. After years of being held privately, The Golconda Blue is now returning to the public eye for the first time in decades.

Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s international head of jewellery, called it “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” noting the auction house’s long history with legendary Golconda diamonds such as the Archduke Joseph, the Princie, and the Wittelsbach.

The term Golconda itself refers to the legendary diamond mines of Eastern India, famous for producing some of the world’s most luminous, transparent, and pure gems. Among them are historic stones like the Koh-i-Noor, the Hope Diamond, and the Darya-i-Nur — and now, The Golconda Blue joins this rarefied list.

This sale is not just about a diamond. It’s about history, heritage, and the timeless allure of one of nature’s most breathtaking creations.

Russia Partners with Belarus

Alexei Vladimirovich Moiseev - Russian Deputy Minister of Finance — *Alexei Vladimirovich Moiseev – Deputy Minister of Finance*

Russia is joining forces with its ally Belarus to promote jewelry exports to China, the UAE, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia, in response to G7 sanctions.

The collaboration was agreed last Friday (4 April) after Russia’s deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseyev (pictured) met Belarus’s finance minister Yury Seliverstov in the Belarus capital, Minsk.

Both sides discussed further developing e-commerce in jewelry made in Belarus and Russia, as well as the mutual recognition of state standard marks.

The two countries are close trade partners and Belarus has been sanctioned for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“A marketplace for the sale of Belarusian and Russian jewelry on foreign markets is planned to be launched in test mode this year, Moiseyev said, according to BelTA, Belarus’s state news agency.

He said the Eurasian Development Bank, founded jointly by Russia and Kazakhstan, was taking part in the collaboration.

Source: IDEX

Swiss Watch Slump: Exports to China down 25%

Swiss watch exports slumped in February, down 8.2 per cent, with sales in China down by a quarter.

The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry Exports (FHS) described it as a “marked slowdown in an uncertain climate”.

It follows a brief return to growth in January, when foreign sales rose by 4.1 per cent after a 2024 marked by steady decline.

China, the third biggest market for Swiss watches, saw sales plunge by 25 per cent year-on-year in February. Exports to Hong Kong, the second biggest market, fell by 12.5 per cent, and they were down 19.1 per cent to Japan.

In the US they fell 6.7 per cent, in marked contrast to a 16.2 per cent increase the previous month.

“Most of the main markets saw significant declines in February,” the FHS said in its monthly update. “Swiss watch exports fell back by 8.2% in February, despite a favourable base effect.”

The six biggest markets, representing just over half of all Swiss watch exports, recorded a combined decease of 12.5 per cent.

Mid-priced watches – CHF 500 to CHF 3,000 ($550 to $3,300) – suffered the biggest losses, down over 15 per cent by value.

Source: IDEX

Job Losses at Tiffany Subsidiary in Antwerp

A subsidiary of Tiffany & Co plans to lay off 26 of its 42 staff in Antwerp amid the ongoing slump in demand.

Laurelton Diamonds, a De Beers sightholder, was established in 2002 to procure rough diamonds, and to cut, polish and supply polished stones to its own jewelry manufacturers. It has operations in Belgium, Vietnam, Canada, Botswana, South Africa and beyond.

The company, wholly owned by Tiffany, blames the possible job losses on weak demand from China and the US, together with competition from lab growns.

“For the workforce the news came as a bolt out of the blue,’ said Yves Toutenel of the Christian ACV union ((Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond), according to VRT, the Flemish public broadcaster.

“In 2018, the company closed its cutting plant in Antwerp. At that time, 20 staff were laid off. Laurelton now intends to make 18 blue-collar staff and eight white-collar workers redundant by the autumn.”

He said he feared Laurelton was making redundancies too quickly and said there were early signs that the diamond industry could be recovering.

Source: IDEX

High-Value Recoveries Drive up Gem Revenue

Underlying EBITDA almost doubled to $29.7m and profit for the year increase from $1.6m to $8.1m.

Gem Diamonds saw revenue and profits increase in FY2024, as high-value recoveries more than made up for persistent downward pressure of the diamond market.

In its Full Year 2024 Results published today (13 March), the UK-based miner reported a 10 per cent increase in revenue to $154.2m, largely driven by the sale of 13 +100-cts diamonds from its Letseng mine, in Lesotho.

Underlying EBITDA almost doubled to $29.7m and profit for the year increase from $1.6m to $8.1m.

Exceptional sales included an 11 carat pink diamond that was sold for $45,537 per carat, a 63 carat Type IIa white diamond that was sold for $41,007 per carat (the highest per carat price of the year) and a 113 carat Type IIa white diamond that was sold for $39,345 per carat.

The number of carats recovered during the year fell 4 per cent to 105,012.

Clifford Elphick, CEO at Gem, said: “2024 was another challenging year for the diamond market with decreasing rough and polished diamond prices. Our relentless focus on factors within our control – cost containment, operational efficiencies and appropriate capital allocation, has yielded pleasing results.”

Looking to the future, the company expects the market to remain under pressure during the year, with signs of a modest recovery in diamond prices.

Source: IDEX

52% of Engagement Rings are Now Lab Grown

More than half of all couples are now buying a lab grown diamond engagement ring, according to research carried out in January for The Knot wedding website.

A survey of almost 17,000 couples who married in 2024 found that 52 per cent opted for lab grown – the first time the balance has tipped from natural.

The figure for 2023 was 46 per cent and in 2019 it was just 12 per cent.

Couples are now spending less and getting bigger stones, according to the newly-published The Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study.

“The rise in popularity of lab-grown stones is fueling the decrease in the average cost of an engagement ring,” it says.

“2024 served as a continuation of that trend with proposers spending $5,200 on average for their ring. This is a decline from $5,500 in 2023, and $5,800 in 2022.

“Back in 2021, it was $6,000. Lab-grown stones typically begin at a lower price point than mined stones which is reflected in the average cost.

“A proposer purchasing a lab-grown engagement ring could expect to spend $4,900 versus spending $7,600, on average, for a mined diamond engagement ring.”

The average carat weight of an engagement ring bought last year was 1.7 carats, says the study, up from 1.5 carats in 2021.

Source: IDEX

Cleaner Accused of Stealing $1.3m Jewels from Princess

A cleaner has appeared in court in London, charged with stealing diamonds, watches and jewelry worth $1.3m (Â£1m) from her employer, Princess Firyal of Jordan.

Maria Taborda Henao, aged 69, from Colombia, is accused of stealing the items between February and November 2020 and of selling them through an auction house.

The case against her at Westminster Magistrates’ Court (pictured) was adjourned on Monday (10 March) because there wasn’t a Spanish interpreter in court.

Princess Firyal, aged 80, is a noted humanitarian and philanthropist, and has served as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador since 1992. She is the former wife of Prince Muhammad bin Talal, the second son of the late King Talal of Jordan.

The thefts of diamond rings, bracelets, watches and earrings allegedly took place at the princess’s $7.5m home in the exclusive Belgravia area of London. The case will resume next month.

Source: IDEX

World’s Biggest Pearl on Display in Toronto

The world’s largest pearl – weighing 27.65kg and valued at $98m is currently being displayed at a secret venue in Canada.

The Giga Pearl belongs to Toronto-based artist Abraham Reyes and is being shown as part of his Beneath The Surface exhibition of pearls, diamonds, and other precious stones.

The pearl was created 1,000 years ago by a giant clam, the largest of all bivalve molluscs (soft-bodied sea creatures with a hinged shell).

It has been certified by the GIA as the world’s largest natural blister pearl and holds the Guinness World Record.

Reyes inherited the pearl in 2019 from a great aunt after his grandfather bought it from a fisherman in the Philippines.

“I wanted to educate people about it,” Reyes said. “A lot of people don’t know that these giant clams exist because they’re endemic in the South Pacific. So this is something fascinating for people here in Toronto.”

The location of the Giga Pearl is being kept private for security reasons.

Source: IDEX

Chopard Unveils Collection from 6,225-ct Emerald

Chopard has unveiled a high jewelry collection crafted from one of the world’s largest emeralds.

The Swiss jeweler bought the 6,225-carat monster (1.22kg) from Gemfields in 2018 for an undisclosed sum.

The rough emerald, named Insofu -“elephant” in the local Bemba language – has since yielded 850 carats of gem quality emeralds, the first of which now feature in a 15-piece ensemble of necklaces, chokers, rings, earrings, a bracelet, and a watch.

Among the highlights of the Insofu collection are an elephant-shaped pendant with 50 carats of emeralds, and diamonds forming tusks, which can also be worn as a brooch; a Great Gatsby-inspired 4-in-1 necklace featuring a 15.53-carat octagonal emerald and a diamond choker with a 2.50-carat square-cut emerald.

Insofu was recovered by London-based Gemfields at its Kagem mine, in Zambia.

At the time Gemfields CEO Ian Harebottle said: “This is a unique find. The Insofu displays wonderful color and good translucency. Its sheer size, rich color and fine protective biotite shell makes it difficult to see deep into the gem.

“However, all indications suggest that the core of the emerald is competent and that it should yield a number of cut gems of significant size.”

Source: IDEX

Swallowing Tiffany & Co Diamonds Earrings

It’s hard to swallow. In fact most of us would probably choke trying to down over 13 carats of Tiffany’s finest diamonds.

But that, allegedly, is how Jaythan Lawrence Gilder, aged 32, responded when cops in the US finally caught up with him last week.

He swallowed two pairs of earrings that had been stolen a couple of days earlier from the Tiffany & Co store at the Mall of Millenia, in Orlando, Florida, according to an arrest affidavit.

The Orlando Police Department say X-rays taken in custody appear to confirm their suspicions, though at the time of writing they were waiting for nature to take its course.

Gilder allegedly posed as the representative of an Orlando Magic basketball player so that he’d be taken to a private room to view high-value items.

Police said he grabbed a pair of 8.19-carat diamond earrings (valued at $609,500), and a 4.86-carat diamond pair (valued at $160,000) together with a ring valued at $587,000 (no description given).

He then pushed past an employee, according to the arrest affidavit, and escaped in a blue 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander.

Two days later he was apprehended by Florida Highway Patrol troopers who spotted his vehicle. He was arrested on 48 outstanding warrants for other offences, but the officers couldn’t immediately locate the stolen Tiffany jewelry.

While in custody, however, Gilder reportedly asked jail staff whether he was going to be charged with “what’s in my stomach”. A scan revealed “foreign objects” that appeared to be the stolen earrings.

“These foreign objects are suspected to be the Tiffany & Co earrings taken in the robbery but will need to be collected by WCSO (Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Florida) after they are passed through Gilder’s system prior to confirming,” the arrest report states.

It is indeed a bizarre crime, but it is not unique. In fact Joan Hannington, aka The Godmother, perfected the technique of diamond swallowing over a long and notorious criminal career.

It started when she was working in a high-end jewelry store in London in the 1970s. Realizing that the surveillance cameras weren’t working, she took a handful of loose diamonds from the safe on impulse and swallowed them. It later turned out they were worth Â£800,000.

“Swallowing diamonds was my life, my buzz, my drug,” she later wrote in her memoir I Am What I Am.

For the next 20 years she used the same technique – as described in her second memoir, Joan: The True Story of Britain’s Most Notorious Diamond Thief, and as depicted in the fictionalized 2024 TV series Joan.

She’d visit a jewelry store, posing as a wealthy US tourist, often in a fur coat. She’d flirt outrageously with the salesman, while carefully memorizing her target piece.

She’d later return with a cheap but convincing replica, fake a sneeze as she was viewing the piece for a second time, and swallow the genuine item. She’d then sterilize the stolen gems in a bowl of gin and sell them on to a fence.

Hannington, now aged 68, was sentenced to 30 months for possession of a stolen check book when she was 24,but she says she was never jailed for her diamond swallowing escapades. She does however suffer painful ulcers as a long-term consequence.

Source: John Jeffay IDEX