A rare 15-carat vivid blue diamond sold for $57.5 million on Wednesday at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong. The De Beers Cullinan Blue sold well over the auction house’s $48 million pre-sale estimates.

The diamond is a 15.10-carat step-cut Fancy Vivid Blue and the largest of its kind to be graded by the Gemological Institute of America, according to Sotheby's website.

"The De Beers Blue captivated me from the moment I laid eyes on it. With its powerful vivid color, and breathtakingly beautiful cut, it is truly a once-in-a-generation stone, and quite simply the greatest blue diamond of its size I have ever seen during my 31-year-career at Sotheby's," Chairman of Sotheby's Asia Patti Wong said Wednesday in a press release.

The final selling price of $57,471,960, came close to the World Record for the highest price paid for a diamond of $57,541,779 for the 16.63-carat Oppenheimer Blue sold at a 2016 auction. The vivid blue diamond's price came following an intense bidding war between four people that lasted for eight minutes, Sotheby's noted.

The winner of the auction was an unnamed bidder who was represented by Wenhao Yu, chairman of Jewellery and Watches at Sotheby's Asia.

The diamond was originally found in the Cullinan mine in South Africa in April 2021 by Petra Diamonds. It was found there as a 39.35 carat rough stone, a description of the diamond explained.

“This diamond ranks as one of the best De Beers has ever seen. It is extremely rare and unique, and as the Home of Diamonds, De Beers is pleased to join together with Sotheby’s to bring this diamond to the world,” De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver said on the website.

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