Update: The stunning 10.10 carat Millennium Jewel sold for $31.8 million — the highest price ever paid for a jewel at auction in Asia, Sotheby's announced in a press release.
This story was originally published on March 18, 2016.
Still feeling sour that a 7-year-old snagged the world's most expensive diamond bought at auction? You're in luck: Another blue beauty will soon be up for grabs.
At 10.10 carats, the De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 is the largest "oval fancy vivid blue diamond to ever appear at auction," according to Sotheby's. It's set to be sold at the auction house's Hong Kong Spring Sales in early April. It's worth an estimated $30 to $35 million.
A release from Sotheby's describes the gem as a "rare and superb Oval Internally Flawless Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond."
"This beautiful blue stone combining Nature’s rare beauty, superlative color, unusual shape, and illustrious provenance offers yet another wonderful collecting opportunity for connoisseurs worldwide," Quek Chin Yeow, Sotheby's deputy chairman for Asia, and chairman of international jewellery, Asia, said in the statement.
The diamond, which comes from a private collection, is set to appear on April 5.
While the price tag is certainly steep, the sale could fall short of the record set last November, when a Hong Kong businessman bought a 12.03-carat blue diamond for $48.5 million. That gem was purchased, and named, for his daughter, the 7-year-old Josephine.