Two Bidders Battle for 20 Minutes Before ‘Oppenheimer Blue’ Sets New All-Time Auction Record at $57.5 Million

Blue diamond beats previous mark by more than $9 million.

A protracted bidding war ratcheted up the sale price of the “Oppenheimer Blue” diamond to $57.5 million, setting a new record for the highest-priced gemstone ever sold at auction, writes Howard Cohen of The Jeweler Blog. He says that “two bidders battled back and forth for more than 20 minutes in a dramatic exchange that included 44 individual offers,” noting that the bidding started at $30.4 million and moved higher in $1 million increments. When the auctioneer banged his gavel, the final price stood at $51.2 million before commissions and fees inflated the number to $57.5 million – which is $9 million more than what was fetched by the “previous record-holder, Blue Moon of Josephine.”

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