--- title: This Diamond Just Sold for a Staggering Amount of Money description: The 14.62-carat "Oppenheimer Blue" diamond sold for $57,541,779 USD Wednesday at Christie's Genvea Magnificent Jewels sale, the most ever fetched for a jewel at auction. authors: - name: Alicia Adamczyk url: https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 201 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk former_staff: true published: '2016-05-19T14:04:08.000Z' modified: '2016-05-19T14:04:08.000Z' section: Investing tags: - Auction - pubdesk word_count: 181 canonical: https://money.com/oppenheimer-blue-diamond-world-record/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Blue diamond sold for $57.5 million](https://img.money.com/2016/05/gettyimages-532199028.jpg) *GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - MAY 18: 14.62 carats Oppenheimer vivid blue diamond, one of the world's rarest diamonds, is shown at the auction and sold for $57.5 million as it became world's most expensive ring in Geneva, Switzerland on May 18, 2016. (Photo by ©Christies Images Ltd, 2016/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)* The 14.62-carat "[Oppenheimer Blue](http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Jewelry/the-oppenheimer-bluea-sensational-coloured-diamond-ring-5990891-details.aspx?lid=1)" diamond sold for $57,541,779 Wednesday at Christie's Genvea Magnificent Jewels sale, the most ever fetched for a jewel at auction. It bested the 12.03-carat “Blue Moon of Josephine,” which sold for $48.4 million in November 2015, then a world record. The betting for the Oppenheimer diamond began at 30 million Swiss francs, according to [Forbes](http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonydemarco/2016/05/18/oppenheimer-blue-diamond-sells-for-world-auction-record-58-2-million/#34501d8b37ea), and lasted for 30 minutes. The rectangle shaped-diamond is classified as a Vivid Blue, and set in a platinum ring "flanked on either side by a trapeze-shaped diamond." "The Oppenheimer Blue can only be described as one of the rarest gems in the world," François Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Asia Pacific and China, said [before the bidding](http://www.christies.com/features/The-Oppenheimer-Blue-Diamond-7197-3.aspx) began. "It is the gem of gems." [http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#pbid=ccded04939c4010a47d948d2e3232a7&ec=htNDRsMzE6jj1tQNrzSIQkrnhZ9vGdkt](http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#pbid=ccded04939c4010a47d948d2e3232a7&ec=htNDRsMzE6jj1tQNrzSIQkrnhZ9vGdkt) The diamond was previously owned by Sir Philip Oppenheimer, the former chairman of the De Beers diamond company. Other items sold at the auction include the [Charles-Louis Havas Breguet et Fils pocket watch](http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/watches/breguet-no-217-montre-perpetuelle-a-repetition-5992914-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=5992914&sid=7df7d61b-136e-40d9-82a7-9e4ac39d6dc7), which sold for $3.3 million, making it the second most expensive Breguet et Fils watch ever sold at auction, and fine and rare wines. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/oppenheimer-blue-diamond-world-record/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Precious Metals", "item": "https://money.com/precious-metals/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This Diamond Just Sold for a Staggering Amount of Money" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/oppenheimer-blue-diamond-world-record/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/oppenheimer-blue-diamond-world-record/", "name": "This Diamond Just Sold for a Staggering Amount of Money", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-05-19T14:04:08.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/oppenheimer-blue-diamond-world-record/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/oppenheimer-blue-diamond-world-record/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2016-05-19T14:04:08.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "This Diamond Just Sold for a Staggering Amount of Money", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/05/gettyimages-531163794.jpg?quality=85", "width": 3718, "height": 2479 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alicia Adamczyk", "url": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2016/01/alicia-headshot-2.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1", "email": "alicia.adamczyk@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-05-19T14:04:08.000Z", "description": "The 14.62-carat \"Oppenheimer Blue\" diamond sold for $57,541,779 USD Wednesday at Christie's Genvea Magnificent Jewels sale, the most ever fetched for a jewel at auction.", "abstract": "The 14.62-carat \"Oppenheimer Blue\" diamond sold for $57,541,779 USD Wednesday at Christie's Genvea Magnificent Jewels sale, the most ever fetched for a jewel at auction.", "@id": "https://money.com/oppenheimer-blue-diamond-world-record/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2016-05-19T14:04:08.000Z", "wordCount": 181, "keywords": [ "Auction", "pubdesk" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Investment", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investment" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Precious metal", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precious_metal" ] } ] } ] } ```