A fancy intense 3.03-carat pink diamond is among the highlights at Phillips’ New York Jewels Auction next month with a $1.2m to $1.6m estimate.
Other diamonds of note include a 4.43-carat oval fancy vivid yellow diamond ring (estimate $75,000 to $125,000), and a colorless emerald-cut diamond weighing 6.03 carats (F color, VVS1 clarity) with a $90,000 to $150,000 estimate. All three diamonds are set in rings.
The sale also features Etoile de Mer, a starfish-shaped sapphire, tsavorite, and diamond brooch by Jean Schlumberger, the French jewelry designer who famously revitalized Tiffany & Co during his tenure there, from 1956.
Among the 105 lots there is also a selection of signed jewels from Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, Chaumet, and others. The sale is on 12 June.
The Blue Belle sapphire and diamond necklace is to lead a Christie’s New York sale next month with an estimate of $8m to $12m.
The tassel pendant features a 392.52 carat unheated, cushion modified, mixed-cut sapphire from the famed Ratnapura region of Sri Lanka, together with oval-shaped diamond terminals, and a brilliant-cut diamond neckchain, mounted in gold.
The estimate is well below the $17.6m the piece sold for at Christie’s Geneva when it last changed hands in November 2014.
The sapphire was recovered in 1926 and was sold in 1937 to was sold to British motor magnate Lord Nuffield, founder of Morris Motors.
There were reports at the time that the gem would be gifted to HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on her coronation day, though this didn’t actually happen.
“Sapphires of this caliber are extraordinarily rare,” said Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s international head of jewelry.
“This remarkable stone must be considered among the most prestigious colored gemstones to appear on the market in many years – truly worthy of any world-class collection.
Among other highlights at the Magnificent Jewels live auction on 17 June, is the Marie-Thérèse Pink Diamond, 10.38-carat kite-shaped fancy purple-pink diamond that is said to have belonged to Marie Antoinette.
It has recently been set into a contemporary ring by the Parisian jeweler Joel Arthur Rosenthal
Petra Diamonds is to begin discussions with financiers on refinancing a $273m bond that matures in March next year amid scepticism that the company will survive the event.
The ratings agency S&P last week downgraded the company’s credit to CCC on the increased likelihood of default, and maintained a negative outlook.
Shares in the company fell 10% today shortly after the company posted its third quarter results. Petra is now trading at a fresh all-time low and is valued at only £34m on the London Stock Exchange.
While its remaining two assets – the Cullinan and Finsch mines in South Africa – had a solid three months operationally, with a quarter to go, full year guidance has been maintained at 2.4 to 2.7 million carats.
However, the company is still burning cash.
Petra drew on a further $33m as consolidated net debt increased to $258m as of end-March, which the company put down to working capital requirements.
The truth is that the company is desperately in need of improved diamond prices, which have continued to trough this year amid economic uncertainty generated by US President Donald Trump’s on-off tariff regime.
Petra said in April that it had postponed the sale of about 200,000 carats of diamonds from the Cullinan mine near Pretoria because of the “considerable diamond market uncertainty caused by the US tariffs announcement”.
“S&P believes the company faces mounting liquidity challenges amid uncertainty regarding the recovery of the rough diamond market and approaching debt maturities in 2026, with increased likelihood of default – including distressed exchange or debt restructuring – over the next 12 months, if Petra is unable to refinance its debt maturities on time,” said analysts at Berenberg Bank in a note last week.
Commenting on the third quarter results – in which revenue fell to $42m from $106m in the comparative quarter last year (buoyed by sales from a deferred tender) – interim joint CEOs Vivek Gadodia and Juan Kemp, said Petra had experienced “a very difficult diamond market”.
They added: “We believe the steps we have taken over the past 12 months position Petra well for a successful refinancing. We will now look to commence engagements with our lenders on the refinancing of our debt maturing in early 2026.”
Lucara is drawing down up to $28m in emergency funding for its underground mine expansion after reporting a slump in Q1 earnings and lowering its revenue guidance for the full year.
The Vancouver-based miner received lender approval for the funds from its Cost Overrun Reserve Account (CORA) extending a standby undertaking, as it faces increasing financial pressure from declining revenues, operational disruptions, and a weak diamond market.
Revenue for the first quarter slipped 23 per cent to $30.3m, as heavy rainfall in January forced the company to process lower-grade stockpile material at its Karowe open pit mine, in Botswana. It sold 72,871 carats, down 22 per cent year-on-year.
“This lower revenue outlook has led management to assess the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, with concerns raised about sufficient working capital, cash flow from operations, and liquidity to meet obligations and ongoing UGP (underground mine plan) development,” Lucara said in its Q1 2025 Results.
Projected revenue for the full year has been lowered from $195m – $225m to $150m – $160m, although this figure excludes sale of the 2,488-carat Motswedi diamond that was recovered in August 2024.
Petra said lenders had approved a draw of up to $28m from the cost overrun reserve account to allow work on the underground expansion to continue.
In exchange, Nemesia, its largest shareholder, agreed to extend its shareholder standby undertaking until the project is finished.
During Q1 Lucara said it recovered six stones over 100 carats including the a 1,476 carat non-gem diamond that was sold on tender for $1.11m.
Laurence Graff and his son Francois are ranked 44th in the newly-published Sunday Times Rich List 2025 of Britain’s 350 wealthiest individuals.
Their worth is estimated at £3.65bn ($4.85bn), up £50m ($66m) on last year’s figure.
Laurence Graff founded the iconic Graff Diamonds in 1960 and remains chairman, aged 86. Francois, who has been involved in the family business for over 35 years, now serves as CEO.
Also in the Rich List, at number 342, is Alisa Moussaieff and family, with an estimated £342m ($454m) worth.
She is the CEO and creative director of the exclusive Moussaieff Jewellers, founded by her late husband Shlomo in 1963.
Top of the list is Gopi Hinduja and family. He chairs the Hinduja Group, a multinational conglomerate spanning automotive, oil and speciality chemicals, banking and finance, IT, cybersecurity, healthcare, trading, infrastructure project development, media and entertainment, power, and real estate, valued at £35.3bn ($46.9bn).
Christie’s Geneva sold 100 per cent of lots at its Magnificent Jewels yesterday (14 May) and raised $72.3m – despite the withdrawal of the sale’s main attraction, the 23.24-carat Golconda Blue.
It carried a $35m to $50m estimate and would have been the largest fancy vivid blue diamond ever offered at auction. But consignors pulled the gem with less than three weeks’ notice, saying it would be sold a family member instead.
The new top lot was another blue, an emerald-cut 6.24-carat fancy deep blue diamond (pictured) that was sold to London-based Moussaieff Jewellers for $12.7m. Christie’s said it set an auction record price per carat for a deep blue jewel.
A fancy, vivid blue oval-shaped diamond ring of 3.68 carats set by Graff, sold for $5.8m to Lawrence Graff.
And a private collection of 21 pieces by JAR (Joel Arthur Rosenthal) sold for $7.1m, with a diamond necklace selling for $2.8m, almost five times its pre-sale estimate.
Christie’s said the auction raised $72.3m, with 77 per cent of the 115 lots selling above their high estimate. By comparison, last year’s Magnificent Jewels auction raised $54.2m.
London-listed and South Africa-active Petra Diamonds has sold its entire shareholding in Williamson Diamonds of Tanzania, plus all shareholder loans owed to it, to Pink Diamonds Investments, also of Tanzania.
Pink diamonds are known for their pink hue, ranging from light to deep rose.
The up-to-$16-million transaction has obtained Tanzanian Fair Competition Commission approval for Williamson ownership now vesting entirely with Pink, a Taifa affiliate, which is viewed as possessing the technical and financial capability to conduct operations for the benefit of stakeholders.
With more than three decades of mining-related experience, Taifa’s working relationships extend to mining majors such as De Beers, Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti, and the company is now entering a phase of exclusive ownership of an asset where about 1 100 people are employed, most of them Tanzanian.
The mine’s reserves and resources as of June 30 were reported as 37.17-million carats. With liquidity challenges continuing, further capital investment will be required.
Twenty per cent of any distributable cash generated annually by Williamson will be payable by Pink Diamonds to Petra until the selling price is met, Petra joint interim CEO Vivek Gadodia outlined in a release to Mining Weekly, in which he wished Pink all of the best as its takes over the mine, the kimberlite pipe of which was discovered by Canadian geologist John Williamson in 1940 and which led to ongoing operation since then, making it one of the world’s oldest continuous operating diamond mines. Its yield of 19-million-plus diamond carats includes a 54.5 ct Williamson pink diamond that was presented to British royalty in 1947.
Meanwhile, Petra, with the Cullinan and Finsch underground diamond mines in South Africa, is focusing on value rather than volume at a time when diamond-mining headwinds are tending to dominate the headlines and the usual sale of rough diamonds at acceptable prices is reportedly proving difficult.
This has resulted in the stockpile of rough diamonds held by De Beers, for example, rising to $2-billion, which, according to a report in the Financial Times, is the biggest hold back of rough diamonds since the financial crisis of 2008.
Brilliant Earth, the US-based “ethical jeweler”, reported a $3.3m net loss for the first quarter of 2025, as customers opted for less pricey goods.
The total number of orders rose by over 12 per cent (40,525 to 45,535) but the average value fell by more than 14 per cent ($2,402 to $2,062).
Brilliant Earth, which sells both natural and lab grown diamonds, said net sales were down 3.5 per cent to $93.9m.
“We’re pleased with our first quarter performance, which demonstrates the continued strength and resilience of our business model as we delivered our 15th consecutive quarter of profitability as a public company,” said CEO Beth Gerstein, referring to its adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of $1.1m, rather than its $3.3m GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) net loss.
Gerstein said Q1 engagement ring sales had increased year-on-year, fine jewelry bookings had enjoyed a double-digit boost and sales in the two weeks to Valentine’s Day broke company records.
Brilliant Earth, based in San Francisco, California, and Denver, Colorado, was founded as an online-only business in 2005 and went public in 2021. Since then it has opened 41 bricks and mortar stores.
A remarkable 10-carat blue diamond, dubbed the “Mediterranean Blue Diamond,” is expected to achieve up to $20 million when it goes under the hammer at Sotheby’s in Geneva on 13 May. The diamond, which boasts the highly coveted “fancy vivid blue” colour grade, represents one of the most prized and rare categories in the world of coloured diamonds.
Discovered in 2023 at South Africa’s famed Cullinan mine, the Mediterranean Blue was originally a rough diamond weighing an impressive 31.94 carats. What followed was an extraordinary journey — a full year of study, including precise analysis to maximise both beauty and value, and six months of planning and expert cutting to reveal the gem in its final cushion-shaped form.
Sotheby’s, which is overseeing the auction, describes the diamond as a standout in its class. Jessica Wyndham, head of high jewellery at Sotheby’s Geneva, remarked, “The market for coloured diamonds continues to go from strength to strength.” Indeed, blue diamonds of this size and calibre are vanishingly rare, and collectors around the world are likely to compete fiercely for the chance to own such an exceptional gem.
Fancy vivid blue is the highest grading for coloured diamonds, denoting a saturation and purity of colour that few stones ever achieve. The Mediterranean Blue, with its intense oceanic hue and exceptional clarity, is a testament to nature’s rarity and human craftsmanship.
Over the years, similar diamonds have fetched extraordinary prices. In 2016, the “Oppenheimer Blue,” a 14.62-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, sold for a staggering $68.7 million at Christie’s in Geneva, setting a world record for any fancy vivid blue diamond sold at auction. That same year, another exceptional blue stone — a 24.18-carat intense blue diamond also mined from the Cullinan site — sold for $25 million, reinforcing the global appetite for ultra-rare coloured diamonds.
The Cullinan mine, known for producing some of the world’s most famous diamonds — including parts of the Cullinan I and II, which are part of the British Crown Jewels — has once again proven its status as a source of legendary stones.
With demand for coloured diamonds surging, particularly among high-net-worth collectors and investors seeking portable, tangible assets, the upcoming sale of the Mediterranean Blue Diamond is expected to draw worldwide attention.
Its appearance at auction not only marks a rare opportunity to acquire a gem of unmatched beauty and provenance, but also reflects the continuing strength and allure of the coloured diamond market — where rarity and story combine to create lasting value.
A leading auction house was shocked to discover a pink diamond it planned to sell was actually a fake.
The gem was sent to the Institute of Diamonds – the De Beers diamond grading and verification division – ahead of the sale.
It was examined there and found to be a forgery, De Beers CEO Al Cook said in a LinkedIn post to his 42,500 followers.
“At first glance, the stone looks beautiful. It even has an inscription on the side which claims its a diamond,” he said.
But a combination of experts and sophisticated detection machines confirmed the stone was not actually diamond.
“As soon as our team looked at the stone, they suspected it was a fake,” said Cook in a follow-up to his original post.
“The certification inscription on the side had led the auction house to believe it was real.”
He also said: “Our team was quite excited to see this extraordinary stone and actually very sad when it turned out to be a fake.
“Luckily the fraud was stopped before an auction customer paid a vast sum of money!”
Cook didn’t provide further details, and De Beers declined to elaborate.
In his original post Cook said: “Henry Smith from our Institute of Diamonds confirmed that this pink stone was a forgery. ‘It had even been lasered with a fake inscription’.
“Henry explained that the auction house was shocked, but ‘cases like this emphasise the critical role of advanced detection technologies’.”
Cook also said in his post that De Beers was ramping up production of DiamondProof, the verification device aimed specifically at retailers that was showcased at JCK last year and which is now available in the US.
He said it can distinguish a natural diamond from a lab-grown or moissanite in a few seconds.
