Hong Kong businessman Joseph Lau renames gem âBlue Moon of Josephineâ after daughter, a day after spending $28.5m on rare 16.08-carat pink diamond
A Hong Kong billionaire spent a record $48.4m buying an 12.03-carat diamond dubbed âBlue Moonâ for his seven-year-old daughter in an auction in Geneva, the reports.
Property tycoon Joseph Lau bought the rock at a Sothebyâs auction on Wednesday and immediately renamed it âBlue Moon of Josephineâ after his daughter.
The sale comes the day after he spent $28.5m buying a rare 16.08-carat pink diamond â the largest of its kind to ever go under the hammer â from rival auction house Christieâs, which he rebaptised âSweet Josephineâ.
A Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Lau confirmed the two purchases. âThe first was the pink one, âSweet Josephineâ, and the second one was the âBlue Moon of Josephineâ,â she said.
David Bennett, the head of Sothebyâs international jewellery division, said the âBlue Moonâ sale broke several records and made the gemstone the most expensive diamond, regardless of colour, and the most expensive jewel ever sold at auction. It also fetched the highest-ever price per carat, he said.
The previous world record for a jewel sold at auction was held by the 24.78-carat âGraff Pinkâ diamond, which was sold by Sothebyâs for $46.2m in November 2010.
This is not the first time Lau has bought rare jewels for his daughter. In 2009, he reportedly spent $9.5m on another blue diamond, which he renamed the âStar of Josephineâ.