Blue diamonds are one of nature’s great rarities. They are considered a great prize in any connoisseur’s collection. There are more buyers than sellers for natural blue diamonds in today’s market. Few blue diamonds will ever match the color of a fine Burma or Kashmir sapphire. However, the top blue diamonds are often priced like a Renoir or Picasso painting.

India is the all-time leading producer of large colored diamonds. These mines produced rough from 400 B.C. to 1725. An Indian mine was the source for the blue diamond that became known as the Hope Diamond. Another famous blue diamond — the 35.56-carat Wittelsbach — appeared at a wedding in Europe in 1667. It is now believed to be with a private collector in Germany. The Argyle mine produced two blue diamonds at their 2007 sale and the Cullinan mine, or premier mine, which is almost closed, is thought to only produce a couple of carats of blue diamonds a year.                                                                

Country of Origin

Why Are Blues Blue?
The main causes of color in diamonds are the presence of natural irradiation or structural defects. Blue is caused by the presence of boron. The new Australian diamonds are most likely colored by trace elements of hydrogen, which causes a blue-gray color.

The Hope Diamond
The most famous diamond in the world is the blue Hope Diamond. Jean Baptiste Tavernier was the first to purchase the 112-carat diamond. This diamond was sourced from a mine in Golconda, India, and triangular in shape. Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668. In 1673, the stone was recut to 67 carats. At this time the diamond became known as the “Blue Diamond of the Crown” or the “French Blue.” It belonged to several generations of French kings until its disappearance during the French revolution in 1792. The stone resurfaced in 1830 and was recut again to disguise it. Due to financial problems, the heirs of King George IV of England sold the diamond. The next owner was Henry Philip Hope and this is when the stone came to be known as the Hope Diamond. The diamond developed an association with bad luck when several of its owners came to tragic ends such as sudden death or bankruptcy. 

In 1974, the stone was removed from its setting and weighed in at 45.52 carats. It is classified as a type IIb diamond. The Hope phosphoresces a strong red color for a short period of time after exposure to short-wave ultraviolet light. In 1988, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) graded the stone. The GIA observed that the diamond shows evidence of wear, has remarkably strong phosphorescence and that its clarity possesses a whitish graining. They graded the color as a fancy dark grayish blue.

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