--- title: Billionaire Buys His Daughter Most Expensive Diamond Ever description: The Hong Kong billionaire paid a record-making $48.5 million to give the 'Blue Moon' diamond to his 7 year old. canonical: https://time.com/4110728/billionaire-joseph-lau-blue-moon-diamond/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-12T20:22:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:26:55.360Z og:title: Billionaire Buys His Daughter Most Expensive Diamond Ever og:description: Hong Kong billionaire paid $48.5 million to give the diamond to his 7 year old og:url: https://time.com/4110728/billionaire-joseph-lau-blue-moon-diamond/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfaaf9a45cc64da7b/698870a60b72e37f186e6c6a/blue-moon-diamond.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3774 og:image:height: 2123 og:image:alt: SWITZERLAND-LUXURY-JEWELLERY-AUCTION-DIAMOND-FILES og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Billionaire Buys His Daughter Most Expensive Diamond Ever twitter:description: Hong Kong billionaire paid $48.5 million to give the diamond to his 7 year old twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfaaf9a45cc64da7b/698870a60b72e37f186e6c6a/blue-moon-diamond.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Billionaire Buys 7-Year-Old Daughter Most Expensive Diamond Ever > Sponsored content. 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It covers the reporting, scoops and conversations shaping AI and the decisions facing leaders. #### Where can I get reported AI news rather than commentary? In the Loop is TIME's AI newsletter, built on original reporting and access to the people building and governing AI. It publishes Tuesdays and Fridays and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes TIME's In the Loop? Harry Booth, a tech reporter at TIME, writes In the Loop. #### Is In the Loop free? Yes. In the Loop is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-loop-2026q3/newsletters?i=d6240e5a-e228-4a07-8609-5a99c45964e5&cr=time-nl-loop-2026q3-v1) by [Laura Lorenzetti / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Laura Lorenzetti / Fortune Fortune Nov 12, 2015 8:22 PM UTC  A model holds the 12.03-carat Blue Moon diamond during a press preview by auction house Sotheby's in Geneva on Nov. 4, 2015. A model holds the 12.03-carat Blue Moon diamond during a press preview by auction house Sotheby's in Geneva on Nov. 4, 2015. Fabrice Coffrini—AFP/Getty Images by [Laura Lorenzetti / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Laura Lorenzetti / Fortune Fortune Nov 12, 2015 8:22 PM UTC Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau shelled out a record $48.5 million to buy the “Blue Moon” diamond at a Sotheby’s auction Wednesday, renaming the 12.03-carat diamond the “Blue Moon of Josephine” in honor of his daughter. The sale makes [the diamond the most expensive jewel ever](http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/all-that-glitters/2015/11/record-setting-blue-diamond.html) sold at auction, according to Sotheby’s [BID](http://fortune.com/company/bid/) 3.94% . It also netted the highest-ever price per carat—over $4 million. The previous record for the most expensive jewel bought at auction was for a 24.78-carat pink diamond dubbed [the “Graff Pink.”](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-11-16/pink-diamond-sells-for-record-45-6-million-in-geneva) It sold for $45.6 million in 2010 to Laurence Graff, a London jewelry dealer. Lau, a 64-year-old property tycoon, also paid $28.5 million for a [16.08-carat pink diamond](http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/11/10/the-pink-diamond-sells-for-285-million-at-geneva-auction) earlier this week that he renamed the “Sweet Josephine,” also after his daughter, reported the _Guardian_. That adds to a growing collection for young Josephine. Lau bought a blue diamond in 2009 for $9.5 million, naming it the “Star of Josephine.” _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2015/11/12/billionaire-diamond-auction/) _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://fortune.com)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4110728/billionaire-joseph-lau-blue-moon-diamond/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4110728/billionaire-joseph-lau-blue-moon-diamond/"},"headline":"Billionaire Buys 7-Year-Old Daughter Most Expensive Diamond Ever","datePublished":"2015-11-12T20:22:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:26:55.360Z","description":"The Hong Kong billionaire paid a record-making $48.5 million to give the 'Blue Moon' diamond to his 7 year old","url":"https://time.com/4110728/billionaire-joseph-lau-blue-moon-diamond/","keywords":["Newsfeed","World","Billionaires","records"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfaaf9a45cc64da7b/698870a60b72e37f186e6c6a/blue-moon-diamond.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Lorenzetti / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfaaf9a45cc64da7b/698870a60b72e37f186e6c6a/blue-moon-diamond.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SWITZERLAND-LUXURY-JEWELLERY-AUCTION-DIAMOND-FILES","caption":"SWITZERLAND-LUXURY-JEWELLERY-AUCTION-DIAMOND-FILES","creditText":"Fabrice Coffrini—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4110728/billionaire-joseph-lau-blue-moon-diamond/","name":"Billionaire Buys 7-Year-Old Daughter Most Expensive Diamond Ever"}}]}] ```