In a released email from New York-based Sotheby's, the auction house estimated that the sale of 'The Premier Blue' would be sold at over USD19 million on October 7. The sale of the world's biggest round blue diamond was to commemorate the auction house's fortieth anniversary in Asia. Sotheby's declined to name the seller of the rare diamond. The diamond was sourced from the Premier mine in South Africa.

The rarity of colored stones had been dominating the jewelry market by fetching top dollars in auctions. Accounting only 0.01% of mined diamonds, colored stones like 'The Premier Diamond' broke auction sale records in the last few years. London-based jeweler Graff paid CHF45.4 million, or USD45.6 million for a 24.78-carat pink colored diamond called "Fancy Intense Pink". Director Guy Burton of jeweler Hancocks said that the popularity of the stones to investors was attributed to the fact that the rare stones could fetch a higher market value than gold. "People buy them for investment purposes, and they can be seen as a hedge against what happens in other markets," he said in an interview with Bloomberg.

About 330 lots would compose Sotheby's anniversary sale. The event was expected to raise an aggregate HKD600 million or USD77.4 million.