The Blue Moon of Josephine is a blue
diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...
, described as
flawless by experts, that was discovered in South Africa in January 2014 and was sold at a
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
auction in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
in November 2015 at a record-setting price of $48.4 million (43.2 million
Swiss francs
The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...
plus fees).
The diamond is the largest
cushion-shaped blue stone classified as "
fancy vivid" ever to appear at auction.
The "Blue Moon" sale, according to David Bennett, the head of
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
international jewellery division, set a record for the highest-ever price per carat and it made the diamond both the most expensive jewel ever sold at auction and the world's most expensive diamond, regardless of color.
[
The diamond was bought by the Hong Kong billionaire, and fugitive convicted felon, ]Joseph Lau Luen-hung
Joseph Lau Luen-hung (; born 21 July 1951) is a Hong Kong billionaire. Lau is the former chairman of property developer Chinese Estates. He is an avid art and wine collector. His fortune is estimated by ''Forbes'' at $13.3 billion as of ...
, who named it for his seven-year-old daughter, Josephine. On the day before the "Blue Moon" sale, Lau had purchased a pink diamond at a Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...
auction for $28.5 million, a record price for a jewel of its kind, and renamed it the " Sweet Josephine" diamond.[ The seller was Ehud Arye Laniado, a diamond trader.
The diamond exhibits red ]phosphorescence
Phosphorescence is a type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. When exposed to light (radiation) of a shorter wavelength, a phosphorescent substance will glow, absorbing the light and reemitting it at a longer wavelength. Unlike fluo ...
when observed under ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...
light.
See also
* List of diamonds
Diamonds become famous typically for some combination of their size, color and quality. Diamonds occur naturally in many different colors, so the largest diamond of a particular color may not be large in absolute terms, but it may still be consid ...
Further reading
* Eloïse Gaillou, Jeffrey E. Post, Keal S. Byrne, and James E. Butler (2014) ''STUDY OF THE BLUE MOON DIAMOND'', pp. 280-286 (PDF pp. 33-39). Gemological Institute of America
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is a nonprofit institute based in Carlsbad, California. It is dedicated to research and education in the field of gemology and the jewelry arts. Founded in 1931, GIA's mission is to protect buyers and ...
, USA, Vol. 50, No. 4 (Winter 2014)
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Diamonds originating in South Africa
Individual diamonds
Blue diamonds