12 Years Later, the ‘Ocean Dream’ Diamond Resurfaces at Christie’s

In May 2014, the 5.50-carat “Ocean Dream,” a triangular-cut fancy vivid blue-green diamond, sold for $7.8 million at Christie’s Geneva. Next month, the auction house will offer the diamond again, this time with an estimate of $8.9 million to $12.7 million. (Photo courtesy of Christie’s)

Geneva—A rare seawater-colored diamond weighing 5.50 carats is heading to Christie’s, headlining its jewelry auction in Geneva next month.

Named “The Ocean Dream,” the diamond is the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond certified by the Gemological Institute of America and is believed to be the largest diamond of its color to exist.

It is estimated to sell for CHF 7 million to CHF 10 million ($8.9 million to $12.7 million).

A stone of this color and size is extremely rare, the auction house said.

The Ocean Dream is a Type Ia diamond, a classification for diamonds that contain nitrogen atoms in clusters, according to an article on diamond types published by GIA.

While Type Ia diamonds are not rare—approximately 95 percent of natural diamonds are type Ia, GIA said in the article—they normally are near-colorless to light yellow in color.

At 5.50 carats, the “Ocean Dream” is the largest known fancy vivid blue-green diamond in the world. (Photo courtesy of Christie’s)

Max Fawcett, global head of Christie’s Jewellery, called the Ocean Dream “an exceptional jewel of profound rarity and allure.” 

The diamond, which has a triangular shape, was cut from an 11.70-carat piece of rough found in Central Africa in the 1990s.

It will be offered during Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction, scheduled for May 13 at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva.

The Ocean Dream was first introduced to the public as one of the eight diamonds displayed in the “Splendor of Diamonds” exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. in 2003.

The exhibition was the first time the group of stones, all discovered after 1980, were on view together.

“Celebrated by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the eight rarest diamonds in the world, it stands as the largest fancy vivid blue‑green diamond ever recorded,” Fawcett said.

The Magnificent Jewels sale will mark The Ocean Dream’s second appearance at auction.

Christie’s sold the diamond in May 2014, also at its Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva.

The buyer paid 7.7 million CHF, or $7.8 million ($1.4 million per carat), at the low end of its pre-sale estimate of $7.5 million to $9.5 million.

Ahead of the Magnificent Jewels auction next month, previews will take place in Hong Kong from April 27-29 and in Geneva from May 8-13.

More details and other offerings can be seen on Christie’s website.