Over $100M of Incredible Diamonds Unveiled in Sotheby’s New Abu Dhabi Exhibition
There are exhibitions, and then there are EXHIBITIONS. Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi exhibition is the latter. In partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Sotheby’s has just unveiled a collection in Abu Dhabi that brings together a staggering display of some of the world’s most extraordinary natural diamonds. This marks Sotheby’s first public exhibition in the UAE since 2009, and it’s safe to say it was worth the wait.
Held at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, an architectural gem on Saadiyat Island, Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi exhibition features a breathtaking array of fancy colored and colorless diamonds, some so rare that they’ve only been seen by a handful of people in the world.
The Mediterranean Blue Diamond
At the heart of this historic gathering is The Mediterranean Blue, a 10.03-carat Fancy Vivid Blue diamond, making its public debut ahead of Sotheby’s High Jewelry auction in Geneva this May, where it will headline. With an estimated value of $20 million, this extraordinary diamond is more than just a showpiece; it’s a geological miracle.
Blue diamonds are among the rarest in existence. Unlike other colored diamonds, their signature hue comes from trace amounts of boron incorporated into the crystal structure during formation. This phenomenon happens under the most extreme and specific conditions deep within the Earth and far below the depth at which most diamonds form. Fewer than 0.1% of all diamonds show any blue color, and those that reach the highly coveted Fancy Vivid saturation, as The Mediterranean Blue does, are rarely seen. Add to that its VS2 clarity, and you have a stone at the absolute pinnacle of what nature can produce. But the Mediterranean Blue is just the beginning.
The Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi exhibition has assembled what can only be described as a once-in-a-generation collection of natural diamonds, each an apex of rarity, size, and color. It includes the largest flawless diamond in the world, the second-largest red diamond ever recorded, and natural diamonds weighing in at over 100 carats. These are diamonds that you simply don’t see gathered in one place. Ever.
The Desert Rose Diamond
Take The Desert Rose, a 31.68-carat Fancy Vivid Orangy Pink diamond with VVS1 clarity: It’s a visual firework of a gem with a vibrant and rare hue that could rival even the most famous pink diamonds in history.
The Golden Canary Necklace
The Golden Canary Necklace will be featured at Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi exhibition, showcasing a jaw-dropping 303.10-carat Fancy Deep Brownish Yellow diamond.
Then there’s The Red Diamond. The 5.05-carat square emerald cut Fancy Brown-Red stone is the kind of diamond so rare, even seasoned experts may go an entire career without seeing it.
Along with a 100.20-carat D-color Internally Flawless emerald cut diamond, when you add a 102.60-carat D-color, VVS1 round brilliant to Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi exhibition line up, you begin to understand the gravity of this collection.
These diamonds are more than just valuable; they are earthly anomalies, each formed billions of years ago under unimaginable pressure and heat, each with its own fingerprint, story, and place in natural history.
Katia Nounou Boueiz, Sotheby’s Deputy Chairman, Middle East & Head of Sotheby’s UAE, explains, “One of the most rewarding parts of what we do at Sotheby’s is bringing together treasures that have never been seen together and showcasing them to the public before they go on to the next chapter in their stories. An exhibition of this kind and scale on diamonds has never been staged before in the Middle East, and very rarely anywhere else in the world, so it is exciting to mark our first public exhibition in Abu Dhabi in recent years in such an illustrious way.”
The Exhibition
While exhibitions like this often feel like distant, members-only affairs, the Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi exhibition is open to the public and on view daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through April 10 at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation. While many of the diamonds will be available through a private sale, their mere presence in one room is a rare gift to collectors, gem lovers, and anyone who understands that the finest diamonds are as much natural wonders as they are objects of luxury.
Sotheby’s and ADIO have created a celebration of Earth’s most spectacular treasures. Diamonds like these are found not in decades but in centuries, and the fact that so many have been brought together in Abu Dhabi is nothing short of extraordinary. For anyone who appreciates the artistry of nature or the enduring magic of natural diamonds, this is a moment not to be missed.
