Diamond earrings fetch record £39.5m at auction

The Apollo Blue was the largest internally flawless Fancy Vivid Blue diamond ever sold at auction.

Published May 17, 2017

A mismatched pair of pear-shaped diamond earrings have sold at auction in Geneva for 51 million US dollars (£39.5m).

Sold as separate lots, the Apollo Blue and Artemis Pink diamonds together cracked the low end of the expected range of $50 million to $70 million, but were a record for earrings sold at auction, Sotheby’s said.

At the hammer price, excluding fees, the Apollo Blue — the largest internally flawless Fancy Vivid Blue ever sold at auction — went for 37 million Swiss francs (37.5m US dollars), Sotheby’s said. The total cost was 42.1m US dollars, including the buyer’s premium.

A Sotheby's employee displays the Apollo blue diamond and the Artemis pink diamond earrings (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP) — A Sotheby’s employee displays the Apollo blue diamond and the Artemis pink diamond earrings (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

The matching, 16-carat pink diamond went for a hammer price of about 13.5m US dollars.

The buyer has not been named, but the auction house said the new owner would be renaming the blue earring The Memory Of Autumn Leaves and its pink sister: The Dream Of Autumn Leaves.