The Winston Blue is the name given to what was the largest flawless vivid
blue diamond
Blue diamond is a type of diamond which exhibits all of the same inherent properties of the mineral except with the additional element of blue color in the stone. They are colored blue by trace amounts of boron that contaminate the crystalline l ...
[ bought by Harry Winston, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of ]The Swatch Group
The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 by the merger of ASUAG and SSIH to move to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the traditional Swi ...
from January 2013) on May 15, 2014, from an anonymous person for $23.8 million at Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), 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 ...
Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale. The approximately $1.8003 million per carat price paid for the 13.22-carat diamond is a world record for a blue diamond. Harry Winston, Inc. had also bought a 101.73-carat colorless diamond named Winston Legacy at Christie's Geneva jewelry auction in 2013. The American luxury jeweler had then paid $26.7 million for the colorless diamond ($254,400 per carat), which is a world record for the highest price paid per carat for a colorless diamond.Nayla Hayek
Nayla Hayek (born 1951) is a Swiss heiress, businesswoman and horse breeder. She is the chair of The Swatch Group and CEO of its subsidiary, the jeweler Harry Winston.
Early life
Hayek is the daughter of Lebanese-born Swiss businessman Nicolas Ha ...
, who is the CEO of Harry Winston Inc., after it was bought at the auction. After buying the diamond, Hayek said:
In January 2013 we purchased Harry Winston and since then my ambition has been to acquire the most desirable and unique gems. When Christie's announced they were offering the largest flawless fancy-vivid blue the GIA had ever graded, I had to buy it. Today, I am proud to own the most beautiful blue diamond in the world: The Winston Blue.
The London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
based auction house Christie's International regained the record for top jewelry auction after its Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale. The record was held 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, and ...
until May 13, 2014.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 se ...
certified on March 25, 2014 that the diamond was fancy vivid blue in color, had flawless clarity and was a type IIb diamond.
See also
*List of diamonds
Diamond (gemstone), 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 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winstone Blue
Individual rings
Diamonds originating in South Africa
Individual diamonds
Blue diamonds