The Golconda Blue diamond: A legendary gemstone steeped in royal Indian heritage is set to captivate the world stage once again. The famed Golconda Blue diamond — a 23.24-carat vivid blue marvel once belonging to the Maharajas of Indore and Baroda — will headline Christie’s prestigious ‘Magnificent Jewels’ auction in Geneva on May 14, with estimates soaring as high as $50 million.

“Exceptional noble gems of this caliber come to market once in a lifetime. Over the course of its 259-year history, Christie’s has had the honor of offering some of the world’s most important Golconda diamonds, including the Archduke Joseph, the Princie, and the Wittelsbach.

“With its Royal heritage, extraordinary color, and exceptional size, ‘The Golconda Blue’ is truly one of the rarest blue diamonds in the world,” Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s International head of Jewelry, said in a statement.

Rarest blue diamonds

The diamond is hailed as one of the most important and rarest blue diamonds ever discovered. This features makes the auction more significant for Indian audiences is its direct lineage to Indian royalty. The special diamond origins in the legendary Golconda mines of present-day Telangana, renowned for producing the world’s most iconic diamonds, a report by news agency PTI said.

Details on ‘The Golconda Blue’

‘The Golconda Blue’ once belonged to Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar II of Indore, a modernist monarch celebrated for his refined taste and cosmopolitan lifestyle during the 1920s and ’30s, the Christie’s was quoted saying as in the PTI report.

In 1923, the Maharaja’s father commissioned a bracelet featuring this extraordinary blue diamond from the French house Chaumet, after he had earlier acquired the famed “Indore Pears” — the two significant Golconda diamonds — from the same jeweller, they informed.

A decade later, the Maharaja appointed Mauboussin as his official jeweler, who redesigned the royal collection and incorporated ‘The Golconda Blue’ into a striking necklace alongside the famed Indore Pear diamonds.

The piece was immortalised in a portrait of the Maharani of Indore by French painter Bernard Boutet de Monvel, capturing a moment of Indo-European elegance at its peak.

(With inputs from agencies)