$7.9M Sale Smashes Record

A flawless gem has sold for $7.98 million in Hong Kong and broken the old per-carat sale record, Sotheby's announced today. London's Moussaieff Jewellers snapped up the 6.04 carat diamond at $1.32 million per carat, breaking the last record of $926,000 per carat, set in 1987 by the gem "Hancock Red's." Sotheby's diamond is small, Reuters reports, but has a valued cut and "fancy vivid blue" shade.

Collectors are said to love blue diamonds for their dark mystery: The “Hope Diamond" was a case in point, sparkling at 45.52 carats as it changed hands from King Louis XIV of France to Marie Antoinette to US socialite Evalyn Walsh McClean. It now shines on display at the Smithsonian. Another huge “blue” appeared in the 1980s after the Sultan of Brunei snapped it up. (More Sotheby's stories.)