The Blue Empress
Harrods department store in London has unveiled a diamond necklace valued at
around £10 million ($16 million US) which it hopes will be sold as a Christmas
present. The necklace has already attracted a bid of $10 million. It is built
around the Blue Empress - a rare blue pear-shaped diamond. It weighs 14 carats
(the exact weight hasn't been published).
The necklace in which it is set is made from 18K white gold and a number of
smaller round white diamonds. It is among a unique collection of 11 blue
diamonds mounted in settings from Los Angeles-based designer Christian Tse.
Curiously, the Harrods website mentioned nothing of the stone, or the other blue
diamonds.
Model Yasmin Le Bon wearing the Blue Empress necklace at Harrods.
A spokeswoman for the Steinmetz Group, which polished the Blue Empress, said:
"Colored diamonds are very rare but blue diamonds are even more so. It would
certainly make an incredible Christmas present but it could also be bought by an
businessman as an investment or by a diamond collector."