An important unmounted fancy intense blue pear-shaped diamond

The fancy intense blue pear-shaped diamond, weighing approximately 6.29 carats. Estimate $3,300,000 - $5,500,000 - Price Realized $3,554,500 

With report 1106195913 dated 23 September 2008 from the Gemological Institute of America stating that the diamond is fancy intense blue, natural color, internally flawless clarity.

Note : Historically, blue diamonds originated from the Kollur mines near Golconda in the Indian state of Hyderabad. It is here that important stones such as the Hope Diamond and the Tereschenko were mined. Most of what is known about early mining activity in India comes through the 17th century traveler and one of the premier gem-merchants of his time, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier.

Tavernier's primary client was Louis XIV, to whom he sold a very large blue diamond known as the French Blue, which is thought to have yielded the Hope; it is here that the history of blue diamonds began. These Indian deposits have since been exhausted; nearly all the blue diamonds that appear on the market today come from the Premier mine near Pretoria in South Africa.

Natural blue diamonds are among the rarest of colored diamonds and their color comes from the presence of minute amounts of the element boron incorporated within the crystal lattice of the stone during its crystallization process, occurring over 100 million years ago. Blue diamonds belong to the extremely rare Type IIb category of diamonds and are semi-conductors of electricity; an attribute which makes them unique amongst other diamonds.

Christie's. New York Jewels. 11 June 2009. New York, Rockefeller Plaza www.christies.com