For the second time in just four months, extremely important diamonds appear at auction and the media missed it – while The Diamond Investment & Intelligence Center reveals the news to the world. The first time was when the 1.74 carat Fancy Intense Blue VVS1 round brilliant diamond was sold at auction on December 10, 2015 at Christie’s New York and broke the record price per carat for Fancy Intense Blue diamonds. This time around, the momentous news also stems from a Christie’s auction, the Magnificent Jewels auction coming up on May 31, 2016 in Hong Kong. They will be auctioning off the ‘Aurora Green, the largest ever Fancy Vivid Green diamond to ever appear at auction.

“Aurora Green”: Rarest Diamond Color and Size to Appear at Auction

If you would ask any dealer in fancy color diamonds what are the rarest diamond colors, they would all jump and talk about pinks, blues, reds and yellows. Not often would you hear them talk about even rarer colors such as orange, violets, purples and greens. However, the fact of the matter is that green diamonds have appeared far less often at auction in the last 40 years than any of the ‘rarest’ diamond colors – reds, pinks, and blues.

Let’s briefly explore what rarity and investment potential really mean in the diamond world.

The Diamond investment & Intelligence Center categorizes natural fancy color diamonds as investment in either of two categories: Pure Investments and Collectors. In the investment category we see Red diamonds, Pink diamonds, Blue diamonds and Yellow diamonds, while in Collectors we see Orange diamonds, Green diamonds, Violet diamonds and Purple diamonds.

Why is that?

In order to qualify as an investment diamond, the diamond must exhibit two very important characteristics: Price Appreciation and Liquidity. The diamond must be quite unique and rare, while at the same time, one bought with the intention to monetize the investment by selling the diamond. On the other hand, a diamond qualifies as a collector’s diamond when it is extremely rare and hard to find, because a collector searches for rarity. Liquidity is a far secondary attribute for collectors, and most collectors will acquire a rare diamond to keep it literally forever, or pass it on to the next generation.

What will a true fancy color diamond connoisseur and collector pay for an extremely rare color, combined with a never seen before carat size? Is there a true price? How would it be valued? In essence, you can’t value such a diamond even if you tried.
Green is a diamond color that begs all of these questions. In the last 40 years or so since natural fancy color diamonds have been appearing at auction, there has been only a handful of natural green diamonds sold at auction at all.
From 2003 and up until today, only a single Fancy Vivid green was ever sold.

It was a 2.54 carat Fancy Vivid Green VS1 diamond. At the time of the auction, on November 17, 2009 at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels in Geneva, it was considered the largest Fancy Vivid Green diamond ever to appear at auction. It sold for a record price of $1.222 million per carat, or $3.08 million total price. All other green diamonds to ever appear at auction in the last 40 years were either Fancy or Intense color intensities, not Vivid.

2.54 carat Fancy Vivid Green VS1 diamond

Well, Christie’s is about to break that green diamond record of Sotheby’s, and not only by a bit, but by a long mile!

The Largest Fancy Vivid Green Diamond Ever Offered at Auction

Christie’s will unveil the ‘Aurora Green’ diamond, a rare 5.03 carat Fancy Vivid Green diamond, at its May 31 auction in Hong Kong. It has VS2 clarity, and no fluorescence, which is extremely rare for such a diamond. It has a mesmerizing radiant cut, making it a true natural beauty, it has never been seen before, and it is twice the size of the largest Fancy Vivid Green diamond ever offered at auction.

Back on Thursday, March 31st, was the highlight of Christie’s Hong Kong 30th anniversary celebration. Asia-Pacific Chairman, Francois Curiel introduced the diamond at that point, and yet no one from the media caught on to the significance of this historic moment! The only other larger known vivid green diamond is the ‘Dresden Green’ diamond, a 41 carat green diamond

The 41 carat ‘Dresden Green’ diamond

It seems that the only image available of this diamond for now, until Christie’s officially announces this news is the following shot:

The 5.03 carat ‘Aurora Green’ diamond

It seems that this person who posted the image may be a Christie’s insider, but this has not been verified…

According to Christie’s insiders, it is believed that the diamond is valued at a price between $16 million and $20 million, or $3.18 million to $3.98 million per carat. This diamond may surprise the market as to its final price, and it will end up in a bidding war between 2-3 collectors, until all will fall back, and a final bidder will emerge as the winner and new owner of this true rarity. In fact, the whole catalog and auction will be revolving around this rare diamond. I have seen the examination of the diamond, and I can proudly say that the eyes can capture colors no camera can, and this diamond is even more beautiful in person.

Green in Asia

Green is a very desired color in Asia, and we suspect that the new owner of the diamond will therefore be Asian. Just look at what price rare jadeite sells for at Hong Kong auctions and you will understand how dearly the bidders there will pay for green jewelry.

I am not sure if any diamond expert can truly evaluate such a magnificent diamond as the Aurora Green, simply because there isn’t any other like it on the market with which to compare it. Even one of the top five global fancy color diamonds dealers with whom I spoke did not know how to evaluate it. It is a true “priceless” piece.

Who is the current seller and who would be the eventual buyer?

It is not yet known to us who the seller is, but we will continue to investigate the matter. Most likely the seller will make themselves known once the auction actually takes place. More importantly, we wonder who will be the final buyer of this amazing and unique diamond. Will the new owner change the name of the diamond? How much are they willing to pay for it? Will it be a gift to a loved one? Will it have a Zoe in its name or perhaps Josephine?

What do you think? Tell us in the comments!