
‘Mediterranean Blue Diamond' Could Fetch $20 Million at Auction
The cushion-shaped piece, known as the "Mediterranean Blue Diamond," was mined in South Africa and displayed a rare color that qualified as fancy vivid blue, Sotheby's said.
"The market for coloured diamonds continues to go from strength to strength," said Jessica Wyndham of Sotheby's, added that she expected a price in the region of $20 million.
In 2016, another vivid blue diamond sold for 56.8 million Swiss francs ($68.7 million) at a Christie's auction in Geneva.
Sotheby's high jewellery collection, which includes other coloured gemstones, was presented to journalists in Geneva ahead of a live auction scheduled for May 13 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Swiss will try to negotiate way out of stiff US tariffs
GENEVA: The Swiss government said Friday it would negotiate with the United States to try to avoid the tough 39-percent US tariff rate that would harm key industries. As part of a slew of new tariffs unveiled late Thursday on nearly 70 countries, Washington said it planned to charge a 39-percent tariff rate on Swiss goods, higher than the 31-percent rate that it had been threatening to implement. The new rate is set to go into effect on August 7, and would also prove painful for Switzerland's manufacturing and watchmaking industries. The Swiss government said it remains in contact with US authorities and 'still hopes to find a negotiated solution,' in a statement on X. 'The Federal Council notes with great regret the intention of the US to unilaterally burden Swiss imports with considerable import duties despite the progress made in bilateral talks and Switzerland's very constructive position,' it added. Senior Swiss officials had held numerous discussions with their US counterparts in an attempt to reach a deal with the administration of US President Donald Trump, like Britain and the European Union have. President Karin Keller-Sutter, who is also finance minister, spoke with Trump on Thursday. 'The trade deficit remains the center' of Trump's preoccupation and they could not reach an agreement on a framework trade deal, she said on X. The United States is a key trading partner for Switzerland, taking 18.6 percent of its total exports last year, according to Swiss customs data. Pharmaceuticals dominated at 60 percent of Swiss goods exports to the United States, followed by machinery and metalworking at 20 percent and watches at eight percent. The trade balance was heavily in Switzerland's favor at 40 billion Swiss francs ($49 billion) last year. Trump has paid particular attention to trade deficits, considering them a sign that the United States is being taken advantage of by its trading partners. Switzerland is however the sixth country in terms of foreign direct investment into the United States, particularly in research and development. Swiss pharmaceutical giants Roche and Novartis have both announced plans to invest tens of billions of dollars in the United States in the coming five years as they try to head off threats by Trump to impose separate tariffs of up to 200 percent on medicines if foreign drugmakers do not move more production into the United States. The trade association representing the small and medium-sized firms in Switzerland's machine and metal-working industry urged the government to take advantage of the negotiating window before the entry into force on August 7 of the new tariffs, which it warned would have serious long-term consequences.


Al Arabiya
25-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
Caitlin Clark's WNBA rookie card fetches $660,000 at auction in a record-breaking sale
Caitlin Clark has set yet another record–this time with her 2024 WNBA rookie card selling for the most money yet for a female athlete at a public auction. Clark's Rookie Royalty WNBA Flawless Logowoman 1/1 card sold Thursday night for $660,000. That sale price tops the previous mark of $366,000 for Clark's 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signatures Gold Vinyl 1/1 PSA 10 in March. The card that sold Thursday night is signed and inscribed with Clark's scoring total for her rookie season. The card also includes a Logowoman patch seen on WNBA jerseys, making such cards a top pick for collectors. This card entered extended bidding at $336,000 before reaching the final sale price. The Flawless Logowoman was one of seven Clark cards sold at Fanatics Collect on Thursday night and one of four cards from Panini America's 2024 Rookie Royalty WNBA collection. Now 14 cards featuring Clark have sold at public auction, easily topping her salary this season with the Indiana Fever, with the latest going for more than Clark is scheduled to make over her rookie contract with Indiana. This mark may be challenged Aug. 9 when an Immaculate Logowoman 1/1 Clark card is scheduled for sale. The price for that card was at $180,000 on Thursday night before a buyer's premium on 17 bids.


Arab News
24-07-2025
- Arab News
Greece invites Libya to maritime zone talks to ease strained ties
ATHENS: Greece has invited Libya's internationally recognized government in Tripoli to start talks on demarcating exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Wednesday. The move is aimed at mending relations between the two neighbors, strained by a controversial maritime deal signed in 2019 between the Libyan government and Turkiye, Greece's long-standing foe, which mapped out a sea area close to the Greek island of Crete. 'We invite — and I think you may soon see progress in this area — we invite the Tripoli government to discuss with Greece the delimitation of a continental shelf and an exclusive economic zone,' Mitsotakis told local Skai television. Greece this year launched a new tender to develop its hydrocarbon resources off Crete, a move that Libya has objected to, saying some of the blocks infringed its own maritime zones. Law and order has been weak in Libya since a 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Qaddafi, with the country divided by factional conflict into eastern and western sections for over a decade. Therefore, any communication with Libya was not easy, Mitsotakis said. He indicated that Greece was determined to continue talking to both the Tripoli-based government and a parallel administration based in Benghazi. In recent months, Athens has sought closer cooperation with Libya to help stem a surge in migrant arrivals from the North African country to Greece's southern islands of Gavdos and Crete and passed legislation banning migrants arriving from Libya by sea from requesting asylum. In an incident earlier this month, the European Union migration commissioner and ministers from Italy, Malta and Greece were denied entry to the eastern part of divided Libya, shortly after meeting the internationally recognized government that controls the west of Libya.