Rare blue diamond shines at a $100M exhibition in Abu Dhabi

Sotheby's deputy chairman, Middle East, and head of Sotheby's UAE, Katia Noun Boueiz, wears the Mediterranean Blue diamond during its worldwide debut in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday.

Sotheby's deputy chairman, Middle East, and head of Sotheby's UAE, Katia Noun Boueiz, wears the Mediterranean Blue diamond during its worldwide debut in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday. (Altaf Qadri, Associated Press)


10 photos
8
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — A rare blue diamond was on display Tuesday at an exhibition of $100 million worth of the world's rarest diamonds in the United Arab Emirates' capital, Abu Dhabi.

The eight diamonds on display at the Sotheby's exhibition have a total weight of over 700 carats.

Visitors focused on the 10-karat blue diamond from South Africa, considered one of the most important blue diamonds ever discovered. Sotheby's expects it to be auctioned off at $20 million in May.

Quig Bruning, the company's head of jewels in North America, Europe and the Middle East, said they chose Abu Dhabi for the current exhibition because of the Gulf nation's high interest in diamonds.

"We have great optimism about the region," he said. "We feel very strongly that this is the kind of place where you have both traders and collectors of diamonds of this importance and of this rarity."

Photos

Most recent Business stories

Related topics

BusinessWorld
Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
    Newsletter Signup