Blue diamond sells for more than €40m at Christie’s auction in Geneva

A Christie’s employee displays Bleu Royal (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

The largest fancy vivid blue diamond to come to auction has sold for more than $44m (€40m), far outstripping the pre-sale estimate, Christie’s said.

The Bleu Royal — a ring featuring a fancy vivid blue pear-shaped diamond of 17.61 carats — was one of the standout pieces to go under the hammer at the auction house for Geneva’s Luxury Week.