The Bulgari Laguna Blu

Sotheby’s presents The Bulgari Laguna Blu. the largest Blue Diamond in a Bulgari Jewel is estimated to Achieve in Excess of 22 Million CHF/ $25 Million. Created in 1970, this exceptional diamond has stayed in the same European collection ever since. this is its first appeareance at auction. 

The Bulgari Laguna Blu will premiere globally at the Met Gala on May 1 before its exhibition and sale at Sotheby’s Geneva Luxury Week from May 12. 

With the presentation of the Bulgari Laguna Blu – an 11.16-carat blue diamond, one of the most remarkable diamonds ever sold by Bulgari and its most valuable gem – Sotheby’s completes a trilogy of unique and extraordinary coloured gemstones sale announcements.

This latest news follows the recent unveiling of the Eternal Pink (estimate in excess of $35 Million), the most valuable purplish pink diamond ever to appear at auction, and the Estrella de FURA 55.22 (estimate in excess of $30 Million), the largest ruby ever to come to market. 

While the Eternal Pink and Estrella de FURA 55.22 will highlight Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction in New York on 8 June, the Bulgari Laguna Blu will star in Sotheby’s Luxury Week in Geneva from May 12 to May 16. 

The Bulgari Laguna Blu is a unique gemstone, boasting an exceptional colour saturation and a vibrant oceanic blue, with provenance from a Distinguished European Collection.

Created in 1970 by Bulgari as a ring, the Bulgari Laguna Blu is a rarity three times over: 

• A 11.16 carat Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond – Blue diamonds of any kind and size are among the rarest coloured diamonds. A fabulous accident of nature, blue diamonds originate by the trace element boron within the diamond’s carbon structure during its formation, deep in the earth’s core. Blue diamonds over 5 carats are rare, and those over 10 carats are rarer. Any blue diamond qualifying as Fancy Vivid – the brightest hue a diamond can display – weighing over 10 carats is extremely rare indeed. Fewer than ten Fancy Vivid Blue diamonds over 10 carats sold at auction anywhere in the world in the past few decades, four of which by Sotheby’s. 

• The Bulgari signature – The Bulgari Laguna Blu was initially in a ring, by Bulgari, for a special commission by the original owner. In 1970, Bulgari was at its highest with Hollywood glamour, as epitomised by the fondness divas like Elizabeth Taylor, Ingrid Bergman, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, among many others, had for Bulgari jewels. 

Bulgari mounted the Bulgari Laguna Blu into an elegant, pared-down ring, exposing all the facets of the stone to their best, demonstrating the jeweller’s ability to maximise the intrinsic beauty of an exceptional diamond. 

• Unseen and unmodified – The Bulgari Laguna Blu has remained in the same family since its acquisition in the 1970s. Therefore, only a happy few have admired it since its creation and before its sale this May. According to the era of its cutting, another rare quality of the Bulgari Laguna Blu lies in the fact that no one touched it with the passing of time. A romantic and authentic quality.

The Bulgari Laguna Blu diamond will first appear at the forthcoming Met Gala on 1 May before going to Geneva. There it will be on view at the Mandarin Oriental from 11 May, ahead of its sale during Sotheby’s Luxury Week in Geneva this May. 

The Bulgari Laguna Blu is part of a wider collection by the same consignor, which includes another two white diamonds signed Bulgari, from the same early 1970s period – a pear-shaped diamond weighing 12.08 carats (estimate CHF 550,000-640,000 / US$ 600,000-700,000); and step-cut diamond weighing 18.78 carats (estimate CHF 830,000-1,285,000 / US$ 900,000-1,400,000).

The collection includes a fourth stone signed Pederzani, a pear-shaped white diamond weighing 8.33 carats (estimate CHF 325,000-460,000 / US$ 350,000-500,000).