Royal blue diamond hits public market for the first time after 300 years

Over the last 300 years, it’s passed through the hands of royals from four European dynasties. But in May, the 6.16-carat Farnese Blue diamond will go on sale for the first time in its history at a Sotheby’s auction.

The pear-shaped fancy dark grey-blue diamond was unearthed from the Golconda mine in India, where the Hope Diamond discovered. It was originally gifted to the Italian-born Elisabeth Farnese, queen of Spain, in 1715, following her marriage to King Philip V of Spain.

It would be passed down through more than seven generations and, as Elisabeth’s descendants married into other European families, journey across the continent, traveling from Spain to France, Italy and Austria.

The Farnese Diamond is being sold with a detachable fitting, a case and a plaque explaining its provenance.

At key points it adorned a tie pin belonging to Charles II, Duke of Lucca, and a tiara dressed with diamonds thought to have belonged to Marie Antoinette. And yet, for much of history, the diamond was known only to family members and the jewelers who tended to it.

‘Fragments of history’

Next month, a family descended from Queen Elisabeth will be selling the stone at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction in Geneva, with the upper estimate set at 5 million Swiss francs ($5.27 million).

However, David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s international jewelry division, suggests that the diamond could sell for more: 75% of the jewels sold at 2017’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sales exceeded their top estimate.

The "Aurora Green" is the largest Fancy Vivid green diamond ever sold at auction. The stone went under the hammer on May 31, 2016 at Christie's auction house in Hong Kong, selling for $16,818,983.

The world's largest blue diamond, an extremely rare gem known as "The Oppenheimer Blue", sold for $57.5 million at Christie's Geneva May 18, 2016, making it the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction.

The 14.62 carat Fancy Vivid stone is mounted on a platinum ring and flanked on either side by a trapeze-shaped diamond.

'The Unique Pink' is the largest Fancy Vivid pink pear-shaped diamond to ever be offered at auction.

The diamond was sold for $31.6 million by Sotheby's, at an auction in Geneva. The price makes it the most expensive Fancy Vivid pink diamond to sell at auction.

Cubic zirconia replicas of the original and a modern cut of the Kohinoor diamond, one of the oldest and most famous diamonds in the world.

The De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 has broken auction records in Asia.

The stone sold for $31.8 million, which makes it the most expensive piece of jewelry sold at an auction in Asia.

Sotheby's auctioned this 9.54 carat ring it says belonged to child star Shirley Temple on April 19, 2016. Though it was expected to fetch between $25 million and $35 million, it failed to sell.

This 12.03-carat blue diamond fetched $48.4 million at auction on November 11, 2015. It was previously the world's most expensive price-per-carat diamond sold.

The fancy, vivid blue diamond was discovered in South Africa in January last year.

In recent years, other high-value diamonds have hit the auction block. The 59.60-carat oval cut pink diamond known as "The Pink Star," went for $80 million at a 2013 Sotheby's auction. However, after the buyer defaulted on payment, it was returned to Sotheby's.

This 118.28 oval white diamond became the largest sold at auction when it went for $30.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2013.

In April 2015, a 100-carat, emerald cut, D color, internally flawless diamond -- the largest of its clarity and cut to ever be shown at auction -- sold for $22 million.

The 76.02-carat 400-year-old Archduke Joseph diamond set a new record for price per carat for a colorless diamond in 2012, when it sold for $21.5 million at a Christie's auction.

In 2010, Hong Kong's largest jewelry retailer, Chow Tai Fook, bought one of the world's largest rough diamonds for $35.3 million.

Jeweler Wallace Chan and a team of craftsman worked 47,000 hours to transform the stone it into this piece, which Chai Tai Fook estimates could be worth $200 million.

A look at some of the world's most famous diamonds

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“Royal and noble collectors have traditionally had access to the finest gemstones available, and so the gems which adorn these pieces often display the very highest quality, size and rarity,” Bennett said in an email. “They are fragments of history and there is currently great enthusiasm for jewels of this type.”

The Farnese Blue will go on public display at the Sotheby’s Hong Kong showroom on on March 29, and will be exhibited in London, New York, Singapore, Taipei and Geneva before the auction.