Mystery and Intrigue Surround Wittelsbach Blue Diamond Scheduled for Auction

Here is an interesting news item about the second largest diamond in the world that has been worn and owned by royalty and whose complete history remains locked in mystery and speculation. Called the Wittelsbach Blue Diamond after the House of Wittelsbach, a European royal family from Bavaria, the thirty-five point fifty-six carat diamond is second in size to the infamous Hope diamond displayed in the US Smithsonian Institution. Having been documented as owned by at least three royal dynasties, its history cannot be entirely chronicled as no one really knows where the diamond has been for years. Surprisingly, however, it has now shown up to be auctioned by Christie’s of London in December. And of course, the seller or owner of the blue diamond is anonymous, keeping the last eighty years of possession shrouded in mystery.

Expected to garner in the neighborhood of nine million pounds, Christie’s has issued a photograph of the Wittelsbach Blue Diamond being held by a white gloved hand. The price expected seems rather low compared with other recently auctioned diamonds with far less notoriety and given the fact that diamonds are a good investment in a poor economy. Regardless of the end price, the auction will surely receive plenty of attention.