Sotheby’s yesterday in Hong Kong sold a diamond ring containing a 8.74 carat blue diamond for HK$43.78m (£3.5m), the most expensive sale of a diamond of this type at auction in Asia.

Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s, Inc.© 2009

The sale took place as a part of the ‘Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite’ auction in central Hong Kong yesterday, October 7th.

Over 300 lots were offered and 255 were sold, with a total sale value of HK$254m (just over £20m).

Sotheby’s described the size 5 1/2 ring as “Property of a Gentleman“, and it features an emerald-cut fancy intense blue diamond weighing 8.74 carats (pictured right), flanked by two emerald-cut diamonds together weighing approximately 1.00 carat, mounted in 18 karat white gold.

The ring is accompanied by a GIA report, dated 9 July 2009, stating that the 8.74 carat diamond is natural, Fancy Intense Blue colour, and VVS1 (potential) clarity.

The pre-sale estimate for the blue diamond ring was in the range of HK$35m to HK$45m, so the final price of HK$43.78m (which includes the buyer’s premium) was close to the top end of the anticipated range.

A number of other diamonds and diamond jewellery pieces sold well in the Hong Kong auction, with a particular highlight being an impressive 28.88 carat round diamond, flawless in clarity and having the clearest possible ‘D’ colour, along with excellent cut, polish and symmetry according to its GIA report.

The weight of this unmounted diamond, at 28.88 carats, will have caught the eye of local Chinese buyers, for whom the number 8 is especially auspicious: the Chinese word for eight sounds similar to the words for ‘prosper’ and ‘wealth’, and there is also a visual resemblance between two digits, “88″, and ?, the “shu?ng x?” (‘double joy’).

This D-Flawless 28.88 carat diamond had a pre-sale estimate of HK$29-35m, and when the auctioneer’s hammer came down the sale price, including buyer’s premium, was HK$36.5m (£2.93m), driven up by a reported six bidders fighting over possession of this spectacular diamond.