Shirley Temple was the star child of the cinema. In 1934, feature films are already specially conceived for the best use of her amazing acting skills. She is 6 years old. In 1940, The Blue Bird is an attempt by 20th Century Fox to thwart the success of the Wizard of Oz. Shirley is against her own nature in the role of a selfish little girl. The audience will not like it.
The blue bird of the film is a symbol of happiness. Shirley's father has the very nice idea to offer to his daughter a ring with a blue diamond. The price of this purchase is known : $ 7,210.
In 1940, colored diamonds attracted little attention. Shirley's diamond is nevertheless a truly exceptional stone. She loved this gem and kept and used it throughout her life. It is currently mounted on an Art Deco Tiffany ring dated 1972.
The best blue diamonds are divided into three hues : fancy vivid blue, fancy intense blue and fancy deep blue. The fancy vivids are frequently discussed in this column, at the high end of the price range. Shirley's stone is a Fancy Deep Blue cushion cut diamond weighing 9.54 carats in a potentially internally flawless VVS2 clarity.
Here is an auction result assessing the quality and rarity of fancy deep blues of significant weight : a diamond weighing 5.30 carats mounted on a ring by Bulgari around 1965 was sold for £ 6.2M including premium by Bonhams on April 24, 2013 over a lower estimate of £ 1M. The price which was a record per carat for that time corresponded to $ 1.8 million per carat despite a clarity only graded VS2. The buyer was Graff Diamonds.
I invite you to watch the short video in which Sotheby's announces the sale by showing the prodigy child and her diamond.
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