[imagesource: Petra Diamonds]

Remember the exquisite and rare 39,34-carat type IIb blue diamond (pictured above) found on April 1 in South Africa’s Cullinan Mine?

Petra Diamonds, the company that found the diamond, said back then, ahead of sales, that the “exceptional quality” diamond could end up breaking the record for price per carat ever paid for a diamond.

Well, it just sold for an amazing $40 180 180 (that’s over R580 million) to a partnership between De Beers and Diacore, a trading company owned by the billionaire Steinmetz family.

At just under 40 carats, this equates to more than $1 million per carat.

Via SA People, Chief Executive Officer of Petra Diamonds, Richard Duffy, said:

“This sets a new milestone for Petra in achieving its highest price for a single stone and follows the sale of the 299 carat Type IIa white diamond in March this year and the five blue diamonds comprising the Letlapa Tala Collection in November 2020, purchased by the same De Beers Diacore partnership.”

Another rare blue diamond from the company, the Blue Moon of Josephine, was sold at a figure that corresponds to a price of $4 million per carat, which remains the world record price per carat ever paid for a polished diamond.

Petra’s Blue Moon of Josephine diamond was cut from a 29-carat rough blue diamond and sold for $25,6 million (around R350 million at current exchange rates) in 2014 according to Business Insider.

The following year, after being cut, polished, and mounted, which reduced it to a 12-carat gem, it sold for $48,5 million (about R660 million).

Either way, the new sale is a big win for the UK-based mining firm, reports Fin24:

[Petra] was forced to restructure its debt last year, when the COVID-19 crisis brought the industry to a standstill at a time when the company was already facing a mountain of debt and falling diamond prices.

The shares, which were once worth more than $1,5 billion, closed up 1,1% on Monday.

That’s what a rare blue diamond will do for you.

[sources:sapeople&fin24]