Though the Shirley Temple Blue Diamond had previously failed to sell during Sotheby's 2016 auction, the stone looks to have received a second wind in the eyes of auctioneers. Temple's father had bought the cushion-modified brilliant-cut fancy deep blue diamond for his daughter in 1940 after her most recent film, “The Blue Bird.”
The actress was 12 years old at the time and the 9.54 carats with VVS2 clarity diamond was quite an impressive gift. Temple wore the stone until her passing in 2014, and then her family put it up on the Sotheby's auctioning block two years later. The blue diamond was expected to sell between $25 and $35 million in New York but failed to find a buyer.
Recently, Windsor Jewelers decided to buy the stone from the Temple family, opting to recut it from its previous VVS2 to "internally flawless" according to Windsor Jewelers President Paul Lubetsky. The diamond will be presented in its newest quality during GemGenève, which will be taking place from May 9-12 at The Palexpo Geneva.
All information originally sourced from National Jeweler.
