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The Tereschenko Blue Diamond, also known as the Mouawad Blue, weighs 42.92 carats and is famous for its rare fancy blue color. It is the second largest blue diamond in the world after the Hope Diamond.Â
The diamonds exact origin is not 100% confirmed. Theoretically, it may have come from either the Kollur alluvial deposits in India or from the Premier Mine in South Africa. However, by 1913 the Premier Mine had been in existence for barely ten years and since there is no report of it having yielded such a rare and unusual gem, it must be assumed that the diamond is of Indian origin. Like many other gems the step by step journey of the stones remains a mystery.
By the early 20th century, the unique blue diamond was in the possession of the Tereshchenko family, wealthy Ukrainian industrialists. In 1915, Mikhail Tereschenko commissioned Cartier to mount the gem as the centerpiece of a necklace containing a variety of fancy colored diamonds.
The jewel was unique in combining forty-six marquise, round, pear and heart-shaped diamonds ranging from 0.13 to 2.88 carats. Their colors were described as "jonquil, lemon, aquamarine, sultana-green, golden button, grey, blue, crevet, lilac, rose, old port, madeira and topaz." As such, the necklace ranked among the most important creations of the century in fancy colored diamonds.Â
During the Russian Revolution in 1917 Tereshchenko was imprisoned. Eventually he was released or ransomed-and fled, and accounts on the diamond’s fate differ from being taken personally with Tereshchenko or by having been sent abroad previously for safekeeping.
The Tereschenko diamond came up for sale in November 1984 at Christie's in Geneva, where it was purchased by Robert Mouawad, a Saudi diamond dealer, who set a new world record for the purchase price of a diamond.