A 14.62-carat blue diamond owned by an architect of the modern diamond industry could fetch a record price at this week’s Magnificent Jewels auctions in Geneva. The dazzling rock previously belonged to the late Philip Oppenheimer, scion of the family that controlled the De Beers diamond mining company. As chairman of a powerful cartel called the Central Selling Organization, Oppenheimer — who died in 1995 — tightly controlled the international diamond trade and helped make it extremely lucrative.
