Petra Diamonds announced the recovery of a rare 25.5-carat rough blue diamond at the Cullinan mine in South Africa.
The high-quality diamond is considered top color and is among a number of blue diamonds produced--including a 26.6-carat rough stone that yielded a 7.0-carat fancy-vivid blue, internally-flawless polished diamond--since Petra acquired the mine. The 7.0-carat blue sold at Sotheby's in May 2009 for $9.49 million, which at the time was the highest price for a fancy-vivid blue diamond sold at auction. The rare gem was named the "Star of Josephine" by its new owner.
Natural blue diamonds are among the rarest of all fancy-colors, and the Cullinan mine is a renowned source of both blue diamonds and exceptionally large stones, including the world's largest recorded gem-quality rough diamond, the Cullinan, which weighed 3,106 carats. And in addition to the 7.0-carat blue "Star of Josephine," the Cullinan mine also yielded the 27-carat fancy-vivid blue "Heart of Eternity" and a 39.2-carat rough blue diamond, which was recovered in 2008.
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